


Two Worlds One Spark: Alt Ending

by silenthuntress72



Series: Two Worlds one Spark [2]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Body Modification, Body Worship, Dysfunctional Family, Falling In Love, Forced Pregnancy, Light BDSM, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Memory Loss, Multi, Music, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Out of Character, Past Rape/Non-con, Rape/Non-con Elements, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Harm, Therapy, Transformer Sparklings, dark themes, sparkling loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:28:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 28
Words: 154,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22357948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silenthuntress72/pseuds/silenthuntress72
Summary: This is the alternate ending of TWOS where the Autobots win the war. It starts 20 years after Jazz killed Megatron and surrendered to Optimus. Prowl has become more of a recluse, a new council has been formed, and now on top of that two mechs are running a brand new rebellion to take down the Kaon Council. But they are oddly obsessed with a certain PolyhexianThis won't have the same level of mature content as the original ending. Many of that stuff is Jazz reliving memories and such.
Relationships: Bluestreak/Sideswipe/Sunstreaker (Transformers), Chromia/Ironhide, Drift | Deadlock/Rodimus | Rodimus Prime, Elita One/Optimus Prime, Hound/Mirage, Inferno/Red Alert, Jazz/Prowl, Jazz/Soundwave, Ratchet/Wheeljack, Ricochet/Vos, Skids/Tarn, Smokescreen/OC
Series: Two Worlds one Spark [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1150349
Comments: 11
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had Artwork done for this one by Josh Burcham: Here's the link so be sure to check that out: https://twitter.com/jcburcham/status/1202421500952956928

* * *

Ch. 1

“Ratchet, he's being stubborn again.” Springer pushed through the medical center doors, that was in the lower levels of the prison, covered in energon. He continued to grumble while Ratchet was repairing Wild rider's arm. “Again, Wild rider? What is this the eighth time this week?”

“Better than the state that deserter will be in when he gets released into the yard with the rest of us.” The Decepticon giggled maniacally before the mech repairing him cuffed the back of his helm. “Ow!”

Ratchet finally attached the last wire and then welded the plating back on. “He isn't going to be placed in the yard with any of you lunatics. He's ready to be taken back to his cell, looks like I have to make a doctor's visit.” The old medic placed the cuffs back on the Stunticon's wrists and then activated the energy cable from his ankles to his wrists. He waited for the triple changer to take the prisoner to his cell before grabbing a few items and went to the level that was just below the medical floor.

The lower level was where the Autobots had stored the Decepticon chain of command and the more dangerous of the faction. The medic stopped at a door that was at the end of the hall, the isolated room. He opened the door and saw the weak frame huddled in the far corner of the cell with energon all over the floor and walls. Ratchet sighed and took only a small step through the door before the mech that was in the corner flinched and huddled closer to his corner.

“You have to stay fueled; you know I will have you dragged to the medical center and force you.” Ratchet grabbed a small cube of low grade energon, and placed it within reach of the mech. He looked up with blind optics and pawed at the floor until his digits wrapped around the cube. Ratchet took notice of the fresh claw marks on the armor plating and how shaky he was. The mech picked it up and Ratchet thought he was making a breakthrough, but his small victory was shot down when the mech threw it at him.

“Go away.” His voice sounded scratchy and he laid down on the floor instead of the cot that was bolted to the wall and turned his back to the internally shouting medic.

“Jazz, I can help you if you would just let me.” Ratchet noticed how poorly fitted the armor was to his protoform. He took another step forward and Jazz's engine was revving dangerously. The blind mech's warning was short lived before he gave a high pitched, static filled scream and grabbed for the thick band around his neck. He was stiffening and then flailing around on the floor for ten minutes straight.

Once the shock was done, Jazz was face down on the floor giving shallow intakes. “I don't want your help, because I don’t deserve it. This is my punishment Ratchet, just let me suffer.” He drew out the glyph that was branded on his shoulder, that Soundwave had branded him all those centuries ago.

“Jazz, why do you have to be so stubborn? You're just like Black light.” Ratchet shook his helm with a grumble before leaving another cube in the room, and then leaving him once again. The medic didn't believe that Jazz was fully to blame, and he just needed a little help from the two mechs that knew Jazz best. ::Bluestreak, Blaster I need your help with a potential rehabilitation project.::

::Who is it?:: Bluestreak asked the mech, when he was answered with silence he knew quickly who it could be. ::Oh, no way Ratchet, Jazz's betrayal has broken my brother. You know how many crashes he's had whenever something triggers it. I tried helping Jazz, he's burned this bridge.::

::Awww…. Ah don't know Doc. Ah tried tah get him tah drop Soundwave.:: Blaster finally said hesitantly.

Ratchet went to his office before putting the comm on video. He sat in front of his terminal with the two mechs staring back at him. Bluestreak had his arms crossed with a glare, and Blaster looked uneasy. “I know you both feel betrayed by Jazz, but I know we could help him with the three of us. He had obviously had _some_ sort of breakthrough; Jazz didn't kill Optimus and surrendered.”

The two mechs looked away with frowns. Blaster snapped first and nodded, “aight Ah'm game. What can Ah do? Ya know he isn't gonna want tah talk tah anyone, let alone meh. Ah remind him too much of Soundwave.”

“Ratchet, you know that sometimes mechs just don't want help. And you expect me, the brother of Jazz's ex-lover, to be his therapist?” Bluestreak leaned forward on his desk with his arms under him. He gave a heavy sigh and flicked his wings. “I don’t know if anything will come of it, but it would be good for them to have some closure. After a few sessions.”

“Thank you both, I know it is asking a lot, but I know Jazz can bounce back from this. We'll have a few interrogations, and you don’t have to say anything Blaster just tell Magnus when he lies or tells the truth. I'll talk to Optimus about this, I know he doesn't hate Jazz.” Ratchet said while the other two nodded. He switched off the terminal and leaned back with a heavy sigh. “I hope to Primus that Jazz is willing to cooperate with me.”

Jazz quickly rolled onto all fours and started dry purging. It had become almost a ritual at this point whenever he had a nightmare. Once he was no longer dry heaving, Jazz rolled onto his back and stared up at the darkness. He could feel it, the teasing pull of the Host bond with Soundwave, and Jazz knew it was only further keeping his sick hold of him. _You're all I have now. You were right, you told me he was going to leave me once he knew. Why didn’t I just listen?_

The Polyhexian couldn't hear the Host Carrier, but he could feel him, and it was the only comfort he could get until his spark finally gave out. Jazz heard his cell door open and could feel the warmth of the artificial light on his frame. “Go away. I am not touching the energon, I don't know any Decepticon secrets, and I don't want to interface.” He went through the list of things this Bot could possibly want from him.

“You really are in bad shape.” Jazz's optics widened when he recognized Bluestreak's voice, but he didn't move at all. “I actually came to escort you to the interrogation room, but I can tell that you wouldn't be able to make it really far.” Bluestreak leaned against the doorframe, analyzing the mech in front of him. _Marks all over his frame, servos covered in energon, and energon all over the room. His frame is ill fitted, but there are empty cubes scattered around the cell. Self-harm and self-starvation. In worse condition than during the war._

“Quit analyzing me. I know when I'm being stared at.” Jazz grumbled and rose a servo above his face and gave a heavy sigh when the Praxian didn’t respond to him. “Bluestreak, just leave me alone. Nothing I say will be believed, make up for what I did, or redeem me.”

“Well it’s not up for me to decide Jazz, and you really betrayed my trust because of what you did to Prowl. It actually was our cranky neighborhood medic that wanted to do this, and Optimus wanted to give you a chance.” Bluestreak noticed the sudden flip of personality from Jazz the second he mentioned his brother. Jazz grabbed a nearby empty energon cube and threw it at Bluestreak in the face.

His engines roared, and he pushed himself upright. “Leave me alone!” Jazz’s restraint collar started electrocuting him. He grabbed at his neck as he flailed around. The Decepticons that were in the other cells could hear the lone ex-Autobot scream, and they all were getting excited. Once the shocking was finished, Jazz was on his side panting heavily. “Just tell Prime that I am not interested in whatever him and Ratchet wanted. Not unless it involves my spark extinguishing.”

_Jazz seems to have given up and doesn’t want help of any kind._ Bluestreak sighed as he looked at the mech with a heavy frown. _This therapy treatment is going to take vorns to complete, but maybe… if I can get Prowl to possibly help me out, Jazz could get back to his confident self, faster. But, with his reaction to Prowl’s name that would have to wait until his rage is dealt with._ “Well Ratchet wants you fueled, in the interrogation room, a session with me, and then a trial in a deci-vorn. That’s the rules before a trial.”

“Wouldn’t this be your session? I’ve been interrogated plenty by the prison guards, and you can see what happens when someone brings me energon.” Jazz waved his servo in the air. He heard two more walk toward his cell, and he gave a tired, agitated chuckle. “Are we having a party?”

“Come on Jazz, enough of being the difficult mech.” Two pairs of servos grabbed Jazz’s arms before he could fight back, though he couldn’t put up much resistance. One of the mechs flipped him roughly on his front. The other mech moved his servo to the back of his helm and put him in a medical induced stasis. First Aid looked up Blades with an annoyed glare. “Really Blades? Did you need to be that violent with Jazz? He clearly wasn’t going to put up any resistance.”

Blades rolled his optics and helped his brother move the unconscious mech on a gurney. “Bluestreak was taking too long, and Ratchet was annoying me. Can we just hurry up before the other prisoners get any more excited?” He activated the gurney and it lifted off the ground. First Aid gave another sigh as he pushed Jazz out, quickly getting him out.

“Deserter! Autobot scum! Traitor! I hope you get your spark ripped out!” The Decepticons that were in the cells started getting rowdy when they saw the mech that resulted their imprisonment. “Kill him! Kill him!”

Bluestreak tried to ignore the chanting, but it made him think what Jazz had to listen to every single day. When the Praxian was walking in front of Soundwave’s cell, he saw the smug look on his face. They had placed the Host Carrier in a specialized cell that Blaster helped build to keep Soundwave from using his telepathic ability, but Bluestreak couldn’t help but feel that he was looking into his processor. “What are you so happy about Soundwave?”

“You could have had a very loyal mech on your side, but someone broke his promise to my pet. He may be leaving this place, but he _will never_ let me go. I’ve beaten Prowl for Jazz’s entirety, and no amount of therapy will change that.” Soundwave chuckled smugly as he leaned back in his chair.

The Praxian frowned slightly with his wings twitching. He followed after the Protectobots and tried to not let Soundwave get to him. When they got to the floor where the medical center was at, Bluestreak saw Prowl heading for his direction. _Scrap, I can’t let him see Jazz like this. Primus only knows how hard he’d glitch._ The Praxian jogged over to his brother and spun him back in the direction he had come. “Prowl, what are you doing here? You never come to Newgate Prison.”

“Who was that that First Aid and Blades were taking to Ratchet?” Prowl looked over his shoulder, but Bluestreak towed him to the worker’s mess hall. “I came to finally see… came to see if I could make it to the elevator this time. And try to apology for what I did, or I should say didn’t do all those years ago.” He stopped resisting his brother’s push and he sighed heavily as he remembered Jazz’s cries out for him when he was captured by the team.

Bluestreak’s wings twitched through Prowl’s entire speech. He gave his servo a dismissive wave and chuckled nervously. “No one special, he was complaining about pain. Why don’t we talk about your sudden need to apologize? You have nothing to apologize for Prowl, Jazz did this to himself.”

Prowl shook his helm and ran a servo across the back of his neck. “No, I could have done something to help him. I promised him that I would never leave him alone. If I had been quicker with his sentence and smarter with my emotions, Jazz wouldn't be down there with all those criminals. That's what I have had to live with for twenty years Blue, I feel so guilty for not helping the mech that needed me the most.”

“Bro, I am saying this because I love you, but maybe you should just move on. Smokey and I don't like seeing you so emotionally unstable.” The younger brother put a servo on his shoulder with a frown. “I know what you two had was good and fun, but that is all in the past. Just let Jazz's last memories of you be good ones, okay?”

“What do you mean? Are they holding a trial for him? No, I can't just let him think I've completely forgotten him.” Prowl said before he winced in pain as he felt a glitch come on. He held the side of his helm as he could feel his processor pounding violently. Bluestreak sighed as he sat Prowl down at a table, he laid his helm on the table and started rubbing his wings soothingly.

The steel blue Praxian spoke softly to avoid drawing further attention to them. “Look, you weren't supposed to know about this until the trial, but in a couple days Magnus will be interrogating Jazz. Tomorrow I'm going to give him a session. Come to them, but don't interrupt them okay? That way you see him before he receives his sentence.” He silently cursed his nonexistent filter. “But I'm warning you now Prowl, Jazz has changed.”

Prowl's battle computer settled slowly when he thought he could see Jazz again. He never thought he would have such a need for Jazz, but he saw him as his sparkmate. His creators had always told Prowl that he would know when he found someone to be with for the rest of his functioning, and for a long time he doubted it. _Until Jazz_. “Thank you. I'm sorry for being a glitching mess.”

“It's okay Prowl, you're family. Come on, let's go for a drive, bet Smokey is done at the racetrack.” Bluestreak decided to change the subject. _We're making progress with Prowl, he didn’t crash, and that glitch was very mild. Maybe… no, no bad Blue._ Prowl sat up and smiled subtly at his brother.

Just like clockwork, Jazz started convulsing and tried to roll over, but he found he couldn't move. He started panicking when he couldn’t move in either direction, he felt heat tickle his face, and heard muffled voices. The Polyhexian's intakes grew rapid and his spark was now pounding hard against his frame. There was a sharp prick to his arm, slowly he started calming down. “He's calming down Ratchet.”

“Okay, slowly give him fifty ccs of med grade. Jazz, we shut your voice box off, nod if you understand me.” Ratchet explained as he flashed a light in his optics. Jazz gave a weak half nod. “Optic reaction is the same, motor functions working properly. How you survived twenty years on empty tanks, is a miracle. First Aid inject the bags with more nanites. We need to get these wounds closed up.”

Jazz pulled his left arm as much as he could, but he heard cuffs and he quickly gave up. He drew a glyph on the small space beside him. _Training._ Ratchet leaned towards the blind mech's neck and removed the collar before locking a smaller band around his left ankle. “Nanites are injected.” First Aid said as he pushed the gel-like substance into the bag's catheter.

The Polyhexian started coughing and started dry heaving again. Another medical assistant turned Jazz's helm just in time for him to purge all the energon that was dripping into him. Ratchet groaned in frustration but looked at First Aid. “Add more iron and calcium sulfate. Jazz, we're going to be putting a feeding tube down your throat so I'm going to need you to take slow intakes.”

Jazz pressed his lips tightly and shook his helm with sounds of protest. Ratchet snapped his digits near Jazz’s horns, getting him to stop struggling and cooperate with them with great reluctance. The Polyhexian tried to not gag as he felt the tube slowly press path his lips. Tears were trailing down the corners of his optics and his felt his fear rise as he heard Ratchet drill out more instructions. He felt himself grow drowsy just moments before he felt Soundwave’s presence through the bond.

Ratchet was looking down at Jazz with a sense of sympathy. He knew that Jazz didn’t understand what was going on and having all these servos touching him wasn’t helping with easing his nerves. The medic looked at all the mechs and femmes that were with him. “No one is to be alone with Jazz without First Aid or I, am I clear?”

“Yes Ratchet.” They all nodded stiffly, knowing if they tried to rebel, they would get a wrench to the helm. Some stayed behind to clean up the mess while the other trainees left.

The old medic looked at his patient’s vitals, watching the nanites start activating and repairing any damage needed, and the energon that the feeding tube was connected to was already nearly empty. First Aid already had another cube on standby as well as changing out the empty bags of energon. “I can’t believe he survived that long without energon. Soundwave wouldn’t have been that cruel to starve Jazz, would he?” The younger medic asked while filled out Jazz’s medical report. “His spark levels are stabilizing, fuel levels slowly increasing, and fifty percent of all external injuries are repaired.”

“No, Soundwave has done a lot of things to Jazz but in a weird… disturbing and twisted did care about Jazz. Though… it makes me wonder how he did stay online this long without fueling. Check his wrist for me, do you see any tearing on the fuel lines?” Ratchet asked as he looked at the wrist on his side. He found old and some recent breakings of several fuel lines, all done using denta. When he looked up at the Protectobot and saw him nod in confirmation. “You didn’t do what I think you did, did you?”

First Aid was making notes of their findings before he saw that the CMO was getting ready to do a hardline. “Ratchet, you aren’t doing _what I think you are doing_ , are you?” Without getting an answer, the younger medic watched him do a hardline connection with the unconscious mech. “You are so getting a wrench to the helm when you’re out of that mess of a processor.”

Ratchet stood in Jazz’s processor, he was surrounded by darkness except for a spotlight that was beaming down on the multicolored Polyhexian. Jazz was facing three mirrors; the one on the left was of him pre-war, the center was of him with his first lieutenant Autobot insignia, and the one on the right was empty. His reflections were reaching out to him with smiles on their face, but they were completely different.

“Pick one. Which one? Can’t have both. Decepticon pet? Loyal Autobot? Which one Jazz? Which one!?” The real Jazz covered the sides of his helm as he dropped to his knees, shouting in distress as the reflections continued shouting and the mirrors were shaking. Jazz was shaking his helm, “shut up. Shut up. I can’t pick, I don’t want to pick.”

“Ya gotta pick or we can never have Prowler back. Ya want Prowler, back right?” The Autobot Jazz asked as he put his servos against the glass. Ratchet was watching Jazz talk to himself, or rather the versions of himself.

Jazz sat up with his back hunched and his servos lowering to his sides. “I-I… I want Prowl, but he doesn’t want me. He found out about our… my past, and he was disgusted with me. I didn’t switch sides soon enough, didn’t tell Optimus about everything, and now look at me. Blind, recycling the energon that is in my fuel lines, friendless, no hope. Why _should I choose you_? You are just a role I played.”

“And look where that got Master. He is in the same situation as you. All you had to do was kill the Prime, and you would have had it all! You would have Master, a home, that sparkling, _and_ Prowl. But no, you had to ruin it by feeling emotions you never should have let yourself feel. You ruined your haven by wanting to seek redemption from those _Iaconians_! Master told you that they turned their backs on you and look where that has landed you. In prison, alone.” The other Jazz crossed his arms with a frown.

“But Optimus is my friend, I couldn’t just kill him! They didn’t know I existed until the war. Sire was looking for me, he didn’t give up on me.” Jazz leaned forward again with his arms hugging himself.

“Dat’s cause ya realized how wrong Soundwave was. Ya opened yer optics tah reality, Soundwave _stole everythin’ from us_. He deserves his Hell, ya can redeem yerself still. Give up dah slaggin’ collar, give up dah monster dat made ya so pathetic, and let our _real_ friends help.” Jazz looked down in his lap and saw a ball of light. He broke down in tears, but he held onto the ball. “Let go Jazz.” Ratchet continued to watch his inner turmoil and was wanting to help the Autobot Jazz with convincing Jazz.

“I-I can’t! He’s all I have left. They abandoned me, left me in the dark for twenty years! He left me alone to suffer, left me while they ripped my vision away from me. My _friends_ turned their backs on me. I wanted their help, but I didn’t know how to because I was scared.” He hugged the ball to his spark. “Soundwave is a monster, but he wouldn’t leave me alone to suffer.”

Ratchet was pulled out of Jazz’s processor by a worried First Aid. He was sat on a stool before he noticed a peeved Ironhide standing in front of him. The red mech had his arms crossed and his left ped tapping on the floor. “What is wrong with you!? You know how dangerous it is to hardline with unconscious mechs!” He waved an arm in the air.

“First Aid make sure Jazz’s tanks are completely full. He’s been recycling from his fuel lines.” Ratchet rubbed his temples as a processor ache was growing. “And… upgrade the anti-virus software to level two. Ironhide, I know the dangers, but I needed to take it. Jazz is really sick and he’s hurting.”

Ironhide scoffed and pointed at Jazz’s stilled frame. “That mech killed nearly every Prime, pretended to want to help take down Megatron, and wormed his way up to kill Optimus! He’s sick in the helm and should have his spark extinguished.” The red mech hated, no despised, the plan Ratchet had wanted to do for Jazz. He wanted to see the traitor deactivate for what he did. “Not every mech can be saved Ratch’.”

Ratchet stood up and grabbed Jazz’s servo as he looked at his longtime friend. “Ironhide, if you knew the things I knew, saw the things I saw from just the moment of hardline, you would want to save him too. Bluestreak and I were making a major breakthrough, he wanted to make up for all the wrongs he did, and we treated him like a wild animal. If the Council can give someone like Drift, who was a Decepticon, a second chance why not Jazz?” _I’m sorry that you thought I abandoned you Jazz._

Ironhide couldn’t think of a comeback or a reason. He felt betrayed by Jazz, but he remembered the screams Jazz gave as he begged. “If he so much as flicks you or Optimus, I’m killing him.” He turned on his heel and left the med bay with curses flying out of his mouth. _I hope you know what you’re doing Ratchet._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz continues to struggle trusting. Optimus wants to help fix their wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time Units:  
> Breem: 8.3 minutes
> 
> Vorn: 83 years
> 
> Cycle: 2 hours
> 
> Groon: 1 hour
> 
> Nano-klik: 1 second
> 
> Deca-cycle: 30 days
> 
> Deci-vorn: 8.3 years
> 
> Klik: 1.2 minutes
> 
> Mega-cycle: 93 hours
> 
> Meta-cycle: 13 months
> 
> Stellar cycle: 7.5 monts
> 
> Astrosecond: .5 seconds
> 
> Solar cycle: 1 day
> 
> Lunar cycle: 1 night

Ch. 2

Jazz sat on the cushioned bay window that was in Bluestreak’s office. He was drawn to the heat and warmth of the suns, and he mindlessly drew Kaonion glyphs on the window. The Polyhexian laid his helm against the window as he fell into his deep thoughts, he could tell there was multiple presences in the room with him, but he couldn’t tell who the other one was. Bluestreak was sitting in his chair across from the couch that Jazz was supposed to be sitting on, but he claimed to not like how it felt.

“Jazz, you know you can’t leave until we’ve at least talked. Ratchet told me that you were recycling your energon, can you tell me why not just drink the energon that was being brought to you?” Bluestreak was looking at the blind mech, but he kept glancing over at his anxious brother. He noticed how Prowl was looking like he was struggling to refrain from doing something idiotic.

The Polyhexian stopped drawing a glyph and he hugged his legs to his chest. “Could have been tampered with. There I talked; now can I go back to the lower levels?” He hid his face in his knees. “Are you afraid of me or for me?”

“I’m sorry?” Bluestreak asked, not sure what Jazz was meaning. Prowl wings were moving slightly, he noticed how sick looking Jazz was. His voice sounded dry and the anklet around his leg was keeping him from lashing out.

“I’m blind, not deaf Blue. Your guard dog isn’t good at taking softer intakes. So, ‘fraid for or of me?” Jazz looked back out the window and returned to drawing glyphs. Prowl got a glare from his brother, and he softened his intakes. He couldn’t believe that he was so close to Jazz, and he couldn’t do anything but watch quietly. The Praxian wanted to hug the Polyhexian, ask for him to forgive him.

Bluestreak decided to try and roll with the conversation. “I’m afraid of what you’ll do to yourself. I’m also afraid for you, believe it or not I do care about you Jazz.” His statement was answered with a mocking laugh.

Jazz ran a digit down the barred window with a frown. “You’re right, I don’t believe you. Soundwave was way better at showing he cared for me than shoving me in a dark isolation room for twenty years. Oh, not to mention ripping my fragging visors off or threatening to shove a spike down my throat if I don’t back away. You can go back to your perfect little life Bluestreak and leave me alone! I don’t want anything to do with you or whatever sick mind fraggery Ratchet has planned for me.”

“Jazz relax, I realize that you were trying ask for help, but you didn’t know how to. You must have been so scared to have to deal with trying to break away from Soundwave, and then to come clean about everything. Would you like to talk about what made you want to suddenly go rogue from Soundwave?” Bluestreak felt partial guilt for not backing Jazz. He remembered Jazz talking about his dream of the glyph drawn all over his friend. The mech also remembered Jazz wanting to talk to him about something important just the day before he turned himself in.

The Polyhexian hugged a leg to his chest. “I realized I was just an experiment. When we landed on Earth and I found out I was sparked… I was terrified, but then I was happy. Then I found out the truth, it wasn’t even real, just like love. Just like the future I would have had. Just like the friends I had. None of that was real, just silly and foolish nice words. I am called a traitor by those that filled me with those nice words, and a deserter by those that I was surrounded by my entire life.”

_Jazz, please cooperate with my brother. I’m sorry for leaving you so alone._ Prowl didn’t like how angry sounding, but his face lacked any emotion. He remembered how broken Jazz was when Ratchet told him that sparking was a false carrying. And just like before, Prowl was there to help Jazz bounce back. He wanted to see Jazz smile and want him to bounce back. The enforcer knew that his brother was going to hit him with datapads or kick him out, but he was determined.

Jazz’s helm shot up when he saw colors dancing across him. His servos reached out for the blue and green swirls, but then the disappeared when they started turning orange and yellow. “No!” He grabbed for the colors before he grabbed a pillow behind him and threw it in the last place, he heard Bluestreak’s voice. “Bring it back, bring back the colors.”

Bluestreak was standing in front of Prowl silently scolding him while Jazz was touching the colors. The Polyhexian was unaware that the sudden sound of music and colors was enough to make tears fall. When the music was turned off by a reluctant Prowl, and Jazz shouted Prowl turned it back on. Jazz had a smile struggling to stay on his face as colors started dancing in front of him. Bluestreak went back to his spot and was taking notes of Jazz’s sudden reaction. He watched the tenseness suddenly escape the Polyhexian and he relaxed back in his spot.

“Do you enjoy this song?” The Praxian asked as he watched each movement Jazz made. He noticed the small frown that appeared on his face. “Can you tell me what this song means to you?”

“Can’t enjoy something when you’ve lost the soul to enjoy it. I just don’t want to be surrounded by darkness anymore.” In truth Jazz was fighting the tears of all the memories this song brought him. _Don’t be sad Jazz, it’s a useless emotion, train your emotions._ He whipped his helm towards the window as he felt his optics stinging. “Turn it off.”

Bluestreak looked at Prowl with a frown as he nodded. Prowl turned his music off he knew Jazz was trying to keep up his emotions buried. He didn’t believe Jazz lost his soul, as he put it, for music just forgot it. Before the Praxian could continue, two guards walked in and drew everyone’s attention. “Okay shrink, Magnus wants the traitor back in his hole until the interrogation.”

“We have another two breems and he would have contacted me first for any changes.” Bluestreak checked his terminal for any messages, but while he was checking them the guards went over to Jazz and threw him against the wall. “Hey! Leave my patient alone, we are not done yet!” Jazz was trying to squirm away, but one of the guards gripped his horns tightly. He cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees before the cuffs were tightly placed around his wrists.

“Take your complaints to Magnus, come on slagger.” He pulled Jazz onto his peds and they both started pushing him out of the door. Prowl could hear them talking about Jazz in a derogatory way. If it wasn’t wrong with how they treated Jazz, it sickened him how they could speak about him like he was some kind pleasure bot.

“Oh, believe me, I am.” Bluestreak growled as he called Ultra Magnus’ office. The moment it was connected, and he could see the mech’s face, the Praxian blew up. “My session with Jazz wasn’t over! And your mechs just man handled him like a rag doll! What in Primus’ name are you teaching your mechs?!”

Ultra Magnus looked at him with confusion and looked at another screen. “I haven’t sent any guards to get Jazz yet. Are you sure they were my mechs?” He started typing on some keys to see into the cameras that tracked the route used to get to Jazz’s cell. “Eh, I’m not seeing him. I’ll send Ironhide and Springer to find him.”

“You better hope that Jazz isn’t any worse, or he won’t talk to you at all Magnus. Keep me updated.” Bluestreak turned his terminal off with a heavy groan. “Prowl, I think you should go home. I’ll let you know what happens.”

“But I can help Bluestreak.” Prowl’s battle computer was now trying to come up with any isolated places these mechs would take Jazz. He saw the glare from his brother, and he knew that he wasn’t going to let him help. “Okay, you’re right I wouldn’t help Jazz right now. If you don’t comm me by the end of your work shift, I will hunt you down for the information.”

When Prowl left, Bluestreak gave a tired chuckle with a shake of his helm. “Still the same workaholic brother I know.”

Jazz realized that he was in big trouble when he didn’t recognize the route the guards were taking him. He heard doors being opened in front of him, and he felt heat all over his frame. “Where are you taking me?” The mech was left unanswered, but the sound of chuckles and growls was enough to petrify him. “No, no, no!”

“Look who decided to pay us a visit, Soundwave’s old little plaything.” Jazz didn’t recognize who the voice belongs to, but he was terrified for many reasons. There were too many servos grabbing him for him to even attempt to defend himself, he was still cuffed and couldn't do anything to get away, and he had an idea of where this was going. “Hold him down boys, I'm thinking it's best to remind this bug where his place is. On his knees like a good bit of shareware.”

“I am not-" Jazz was stopped by something filling his mouth. He gagged against it and tried to pull away, but the mech and femme were holding him against the thing that was in his mouth. The spike pulled out of his mouth long enough for the kneeling mech to get one small intake before it went back into his mouth. Tears were streaming down the sides of his face as more servos touched him, he tried kicking them away, but they were quick to hold his leg in place. It wasn't until someone touched his pelvic plating, that Jazz bit down on the spike and he was thrown across the yard.

“The glitch bit me!” The unknown mech shouted in pain before he issued out an order. “Well don't just stand there idiots, kill the glitch!”

Jazz scrambled upright and tried to scoot away, but not having much use of his servos helped. Servos grabbed his legs and all he could feel were servos prying his armor off. He screamed in pain as they ripped his leg plating off, and they were going for his chest plate before the sound of the restraint collars forced them to the ground as they were shocked. Jazz felt someone touch his arm and he shouted before moving around in fear. The mech that rescued him could see the absolute fear in his optics, he could see him shaking and tears falling from his optics.

“It's okay Jazz, we're going to take you to Ratchet.” Jazz recognized Ironhide's voice, but he shook his helm and crawled away. “Jazz, trust me we won't hurt you.” The red mech hated what the visored mech had done, but he also didn't think he deserved to almost be forced into interfacing. He slowly reached for Jazz's servo until all he was doing was touching it. Jazz whimpered as Ironhide lifted him onto his peds.

_Kid's really messed up; I really hope you know what you're doing Ratch._ Ironhide thought to himself as he led him back inside the prison. Jazz felt numb, he wanted to be held but he didn't want to be touched. He wasn't as terrified when Ironhide spoke the truth and was taking him to the medical center. Jazz felt someone touch him, and he pulled away from everyone with pained optics. “Don't touch me! Just don't, they were just using me like I was meant to be used. Shareware.”

“Jazz, you are not shareware. I need you to trust me, okay?” Ratchet said calmly, but Jazz wasn't having it.

“Trust you? Trust you!? I was, I was trying to! And look what happened!? I tried to explain, but you took everything from me! You took my sight, my music, my freedom, my spark, my everything! And you want me to trust you!? _Your mechs_ threw me to Decepticons after they had their _fun_! I needed you, and you _all_ turn your backs on me when I needed you the most!” Jazz stopped long enough to get his intakes before going on. “I hate Cybertron, I hate Autobots, I hate Decepticons, and I hate love!”

The two older mechs stared at the multicolored mech with astonishment. They went to talk him down from his rage, but another mech decided to make his presence known. “Jazz is right, we were all too hasty in punishing him. We should have given him his chance to talk. And we were too late to realize how wrong we were in doing this to you, Jazz. Please give us a chance to fix this.”

Jazz froze when he heard Optimus’s voice while the other two turned to look at their leader. He backed up until he bumped into a counter, and his servos held onto it like a lifeline. “It took you twenty years to figure this out? Twenty fragging years I had to sit in the darkness while your _buddies_ had their fun with me. Twenty years as everyone I called my friend called me a Decepticon sympathizer, and the Decepticons called me a deserter! I don't want to be a part of whatever mind fraggery you all have planned. Ratchet and his medics have done enough by stripping me of everything. All I have is _him_ because as much of a monster he is for doing this to me, he wouldn't abandon me.”

“Jazz, what we are hoping to do isn't a mind game. We want to give you another chance that should have been given to you a long time ago. If you will just give us a chance like we are giving you a chance. Ratchet is just going to repair you and replace your sound system.” Optimus walked towards Jazz cautiously. The Prime had heard how bad Jazz was but seeing all the cuts and dents in his frame, and how much smaller he was it made him feel even worse. He knew it was wrong to do those things to Jazz, and he should have put a stop to it when it was happening, but he was so shocked that the mech that he called a dear friend betrayed him.

The Polyhexian was venting hard and gripped the counter harder. He felt Soundwave sending him a swirl of negative emotions through their bond. _I could feel the sun, be outside, see Prowl… no not Prowl he has better things than me._ He released his death grip and nodded slowly, feeling Optimus lead him to Ratchet. The medic could tell that Jazz was still very much on high alert from how tight his grip on the edge of the berth was.

“Jazz, you keep mentioning that our friends would have their way with you. Can you explain what you mean?” Ratchet asked carefully as he hooked Jazz up to an energon bag. He watched the blind mech look away with his optics squeezing shut. “Jazz, do you know who it was? You know we wouldn't allow that type of behavior happen to anyone.”

“I don't know, they are just guards that come in at night. It's fine though, not like I can really tell them no.” Jazz said coolly while he was carefully laid down. Ratchet would have smacked Jazz on the side of the helm, but he knew that wasn’t going to end well. The medic opened Jazz’s chest plate and was going through until he found the system and connected the wires. “You forgot something while you were ripping out Soundwave’s slag. My secondary personality chip, don’t need it anymore.”

“Is your sound system working properly?” Ratchet asked, waiting for Jazz to jump at the chance of testing it out, but he didn’t activate the speakers. He just nodded and turned his helm away. Ratchet closed the chest plate with a grumble. “You are certainly Black light’s creation; Primus knows you two are stubborn.”

Jazz rolled his optics before just doing what the medic wanted him to do. He activated his speakers, playing soft music, and watched the waves of color hit anything solid. “It works fine, can I go back _now_? Wouldn’t want to give the Cons the satisfaction that I deactivated yet.” He didn’t entirely believe that they were suddenly wanting to give him a second chance. _Their idea of another chance is probably in a mental hospital. Or maybe they just are trying to see if I know anything before publicly executing me. But I’ll beat them to the punch line_. Jazz had barely thought of what he planned on doing before he felt a quick shock coming from his ankle. “Ow! What the slag!? Will you all quit with fragging zapping?! Is this some shared fantasy?”

“No, and you did that to yourself. It’s programmed to shock you from thinking about self-deactivation.” Ironhide explained before helping Jazz down. He knew that he was going to have to investigate all the guards that had access to the lower levels and see to it that they were punished. _Kid doesn’t want to admit wanting to let us help him. But he seems to really want it if he let Prime touch him._ “If I remove the cuffs, are you going to run?”

“Can’t see, remember? Wouldn’t exactly get far.” The Polyhexian answered with a snarky tone, and felt the cuffs being removed from his wrists. He rubbed his wrists when he felt energon flowing to his servos again. Jazz opened his chest plate and felt the three mechs tense as he pulled out his secondary personality chip. “I told you, I don’t need this anymore.” The mech tossed it on the ground and closed again before Ironhide decided it was best to lead him back to his cell.

For two solar cycles, like clockwork, he would be visited by Ratchet with energon and the medic would make sure he drank it all, and then go see Bluestreak. Today was different though and Jazz knew the second the elevator didn’t go up the three levels to Bluestreak’s office. He didn’t know who the guards were that were escorting him, and he was getting anxious again. “Where are you taking me?”

“Interrogation room with Ultra Magnus.” The guard on Jazz’s left answered bluntly before the elevator finally stopped after going up five stories. “Come on.” They both nudged Jazz through the hall until they sat him down at a table. One of the guards cuffed his wrists to the table and then they left.

_What’s the point of an interrogation? I don’t know anything useful._ Jazz sighed as his shoulders sagged. He was unaware of Blaster standing in the corner, carefully peeking into his thoughts. The mech would stop when he would see Jazz press his helm against his servos in pain. Jazz was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the door open briefly. The mech that joined him at the table finally spoke. “I’m going to ask some questions and you’ll answer me truthfully, understand Jazz?”

“Yeah.” He slouched in his chair, really finding this whole thing pointless if they were just going to kill him anyways. _Should’ve drank that poison instead of giving it to Megatron. Wouldn’t have to deal with all of this._ The anklet zapped him, and Jazz tensed briefly. Everyone took note of the small zap.

“Why did you join the Autobots instead of just fighting alongside the Decepticons?” Ultra Magnus asked Jazz and watched his blank expression.

The multicolored mech thought about it before answering. “Megatron knew I would be accepted into the army because of my CNA. I was used as a mole.”

“So, you manipulated your way to the top? Wanting to kill Optimus for your masters?” Magnus asked, and Jazz’s servos clenched, but he loosened his grip just as quick.

“Master. I only had one master. And no, I didn’t want to kill Optimus and I wasn’t supposed to kill him. Megatron was testing my loyalty to Soundwave, and you can clearly see the results of that. After Black light’s deactivation, I stole intel from the Decepticons to help the Autobots win. I took that bomb, destroyed those drone factories, and stole from the Decepticons all because I realized that everything I was told was wrong.” He looked to his left with a blind glare.

The red and blue mech looked to Blaster, who gave him the signal that he was speaking the truth. “And what about Prowl? What did sharing berths have to do with defeating us?”

The Polyhexian flinched and he tensed up tightly. “Nothing and everything. I needed strategies and he's extremely smart, so I couldn't just ask for the plans. But-" Jazz smiled as he remembered all the sweet things Prowl had told him. “He treated me so much differently than I ever had, and I needed more of that. More of him, and I knew that I had to protect him. So, I gathered any good intel that would sweeten Soundwave up and I begged him to letting me keep Prowl. I… then things changed. I changed, I finally understood what love was like and I wanted only Prowl.”

_And he betrayed me. He left me all alone. I hate him! I hate everything about Prowl. But… I love him still._ Jazz grabbed his helm and pushed Blaster out of his helm, but still didn't know it was him. “Stay out of my helm! Whoever the slag is doing that, stay out!”

“Jazz, they have to be sure you're not lying to me. It's standard procedure. If you supposedly cared about Prowl so much, why'd you do it? Why would you continue to try and kill Optimus, the mech that called you a friend?” Magnus pushed buttons that was angering the cuffed mech.

“I couldn't! I couldn't do it, okay!? Megatron gave me the poison, but I couldn't kill my friend.” Jazz started pulling on his cuffs aggressively. His wrists started being cut open and energon was dripping onto the table. He settled down and broke down into tears. “I killed Megatron with it and went to Prime for help.”

Prowl was standing beside Optimus and Ratchet, watching the interrogation. His spark was pulling in so many different directions; he felt at fault for Jazz's rage, he was angry for being used but he had done it himself, and still wanted to let Jazz know he was there. _Jazz, when the time is right, I will be here for you._

“I tried so hard since I was thrown in that cell. So, so hard to be hopeful. That he would come and let me know that he didn't entirely hate me. For twenty years I tried to convince myself that he was on the other side of that door, watching me, but as time dragged on, I gave up.” Jazz stared blankly in the direction of his servos. “I realized that I was being used all over again. The things I felt were just what he wanted. His promises to me were just pretty words to make him feel in control. And I hate him and everything about him.”

The Praxian felt even worse through Jazz's small monologue. He put a servo on the window as the interrogation continued. “When do you think I can see him? Even just for a moment, I know I can convince Jazz to being more cooperative.”

“Prowl, Jazz has made it very clear that he is very hurt by you. I think it would be best to avoid contact with him until he's not going to be a danger to himself. For Jazz promises are everything to him, and your refusal to help was a big blow to his trust towards us.” Ratchet explained as he watched Ultra Magnus continue by asking what Soundwave's mods were for.

“The spark gets what the spark wants. And his spark wanted to convert me into a Host Carrier to raise his minis when he deactivated.” Jazz tilted his helm back with a chuckle. “And my spark wants Prowl. Sometimes I can see a light when I think of him, so many pretty words were whispered. So many lies, and the only thing I never said was who stole me from Black light. Have you ever wanted to smack someone you loved?”

“Can't say that I have. If you were given a choice between another chance at freedom or an execution, which would you pick?” The mech leaned forward slightly. After a long moment of an uncomfortable silence, he realized what Jazz was picking. He leaned back in his chair, “I see. Why do you believe that you don't deserve a second chance?”

“The Autobots _were_ my second chance.” Jazz said with a cold stare before leaning back, clearly no longer in the mood to talk anymore. When the mech was being escorted back to his cell, an unmistakable chuckle caused him to immediately freeze. “S-Soundwave.”

Soundwave looked at Jazz with a perverted grin, and it only grew wider when he saw him start shaking. “Hello, my pet, you just had to ruin things for yourself. Didn’t you? Could have had everything you wanted had you just continue obeying me. Would have had your little friend too, I was going to keep _my promise_ to you.” Jazz looked down with his frame tensing. “Now look at you; pathetic, weak, alone, and hated by everyone. You wouldn’t last one session with me in the berth.”

“Come on Jazz.” Springer tried to gently push Jazz, but Jazz planted himself and clenched his fists in rising anger. “Jazz, I will activate your anklet if you don’t start walking.” The triple charger commed for backup just in case something happened. Soundwave was talking to Jazz in Kaonion, egging Jazz on.

The multi-colored mech turned to face Soundwave with anger in his optics. He spoke in anger as he tried attack Soundwave, but Springer wrapped an arm around Jazz’s waist and pulled him away. The horned mech was flailing around as he screamed at Soundwave in Kaonion. “I hate you! I hate you and all of your Cassetticons! I hope you all get your sparks ripped out! I’ll do it myself if I have to!”

“Now that isn’t the way to speak to your master. I was planning on fixing your sight, give you as many sparklings as your spark wanted, and let you keep the Praxian. And how do your friends repay you for breaking free from your _evil master_ and killing Megatron? Throwing you in prison. That isn’t very Autobot-like, not even the great Optimus Prime wanted to help redeem you, and he tried _so_ hard to redeem Megatron. Why not you, his most loyal soldier? Unless, of course he was just using you to get inside information on Kaon, and once you were no use to him he needed an excuse to dispose of you.” Soundwave pushed more buttons, and saw that Jazz quit his struggle. “You feel it through our bond, I would never leave you alone like they did. Because _I love you_.”

The Polyhexian went limp against the green mech’s arm, tears slid down his face. “P-Prime wouldn’t do that.”

“Look around you, oh wait you can’t. Who took your sight away? And who gave you your sight?” Soundwave smirked even more when he felt his pet hold onto the bond. “That’s right Jazz, that’s right I’m here to keep you from being completely alone. Just say three simple words Jazz. _Thank you Master._ ”

The blind mech looked down, whispering softly. “Thank you master.” The backup finally arrived and they finally escorted Jazz back to his cell. When the door was slammed shut, Jazz fell to the ground with his arms hugging himself. He cried softly into his lap as confusion filled him. _Optimus wouldn’t be cruel enough to put me through all of this just to keep me in here. Maybe that’s what Prime wants, give me a false sense of hope before coming down with a punishment of death or forcing me into an even deeper hole. What if he makes me his pet, and forces himself in my valve in front of all of Cybertron? No, no Optimus isn’t evil he’s trying to help me. Right?_

Blaster pulled out of Jazz’s very open processor and looked at Optimus. “Soundwave is fillin’ Jazz’s processor with thoughts. Maybe we should move ‘em apart? No one is gonna get through tah dah mech with my brother convincin’ him dat yer wantin’ tah frag him.” The Host Carrier sat in a chair that was in the Prime’s office. Ratchet, Bluestreak, Optimus, Blaster, Ironhide, and Ultra Magnus were trying to figure out a battle plan for Jazz. “He ain’t a normal mech dat could just get over a mech. He was raised as a symbiont, he _needs_ someone tah depend on. What Soundwave did, wasn’t right but he was teachin’ Jazz’s processor tah subconsciously depend on someone else tah function.”

“Just using him as an interface toy was just a bonus?” Magnus asked the mech that was struggling to keep Eject still.

“Well actually sometimes Hosts would interface with their symbionts or share a berthmate with ‘em. Ah don’t but dah minis… ‘ject hold still will ya? Minis can feel what Ah feel, and sometimes they’ll use dat high of my interface tah overload.” Blaster explained before finally giving up and setting the mech down. “So, his dependence on Prowl was his false programmin’ tryin’ tah make a connection with him. Ah could try and help him either gettin' over a Host bond or retrain his processor tah have a healthier bond.”

Ratchet and Bluestreak looked at each other before the medic let the younger mech go first. “The only things holding Jazz to Soundwave are his sight, our poor choice in acting so quickly, and Prowl’s broken promise. I think, maybe in time, reintroducing Jazz and Prowl could benefit Jazz. Giving Jazz his sight would majorly improve his trust. What he did was wrong, and he knew that, but Soundwave’s constant contact with him was the reason for why Ratchet and I weren’t making any improvements. So, I agree with Blaster, I think separation from Soundwave would also be good.”

“I looked through security feed of Jazz’s cell, and some guards have been going into his cell. They were forcing him to interface and anger him to the point his collar would activate.” Magnus said as he pulled up security feed of only a few solar cycles ago.

They were poking and prodding Jazz with their batons, and Jazz was trying to get away, but they circled around him. The mechs started kicking and throwing him around before dumping the untouched energon all over him. They were saying derogatory things to the blind mech as they took turns to spike his mouth. Optimus and Ratchet had to look away when Jazz was thrashing around on the ground after he bit one of the mechs. The head of prison security turned off the recording before Ratchet finally spoke. “That explains what he meant by our friends having their way with him. It also gives me an answer to all of the dents under his plating.”

“Optimus, what do you plan on doing with Jazz? He clearly doesn’t trust us, and he said that we were his second chance.” Ironhide asked his friend, feeling even worse for Jazz. He didn’t realize what was happening to him and had he known, he would have put a stop to it.

“Give him his real second chance. Jazz isn’t malicious, during the war I was busy trying to redeem Megatron that I didn’t see that a mech that needed me was right beside me. So, we are all in agreement then?” The Prime looked at everyone and they all nodded. “Bluestreak, I know that you want to see if Jazz and Prowl can help each other heal, but I think that they shouldn’t see each other for a meta-cycle.”

The Praxian nodded in agreement, “I’ll tell Prowl to stay away.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz's trial is live on television, Prowl see's trial and is hospitalized from crash, and then Jazz is put under the watchful optic of a friend.

Ch. 3

Jazz was sitting in the far corner of his cell with his arms hugging his legs to his chest. He hid the lower half of his face behind his knees and was shaking slightly. It had been a deca cycle since his last session with Bluestreak, and his fears of being forgotten again was taking over. He told them everything they needed to know, and now they truly had no use for him. “I’m such an idiot.” He whispered as he bowed his helm, but the sound of his cell door opening was enough for Jazz to look up quickly. His face was covered with energon, tears, and lubricant and he quickly grabbed the thermal blanket that had been untouched since his arrival. He covered himself with it and hid his face.

“Come on Jazz, we need to get you cleaned up for your trial today.” Ironhide had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing the results of last night’s endeavors. Ratchet had repaired the mech only three solar cycles ago, and now he looked even worse. _What would Black light have done?_ Ironhide asked himself as he slowly walked over to Jazz and helped him up. The red mech wrapped the blanket around the other and made sure his face was covered to avoid anything from the other prisoners. “We’ll have to take you to Ratchet again.”

“Why bother? They’ll just come back tonight.” Jazz sighed in absolute defeat as Ironhide led him down the hall. He heard Soundwave calling him pet and was snapping to get his attention. Ironhide wrapped an arm around the smaller mech, and quickly led him to the elevator. Jazz took several deep intakes as if he was holding it in, he backed up into a corner and started dry heaving as his emotions were through the roof. Ironhide leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, he didn’t know what to do help him, but he figured his presence would help him calm down.

“I knew Black light for a long time, when he was damaged after an unknown attack, he almost gave up too. He told me and Prime that he lost his sparkmate and their sparkling, and he thought the sparkling was dead. When he met you, I could see the sudden change in emotion of my friend. He was much happier and hopeful, and he was proud of you. Any time he got a report from you, he sounded like a Sire whose creation just graduated school with honors.” Ironhide said with a chuckle at the recollection of memories. Jazz was slowly ceasing the heaving, but he was still not calm. “I know that Black light would be proud that you made the right choice of not killing Optimus and turning yourself over. If he was still here, he would have been kicking our afts into making sure that you weren’t being treated the way you have been.”

Jazz’s optics were wide, and his mouth gaped slightly as he listened to what was being said. He hugged the blanket closer to him, “why? Why would he wait until his death to tell me? If he knew from the beginning, why not tell me? Why didn’t he fight harder? If he cared about me as much as you say, why didn’t he tell anyone about me?”

“Because he was scared. The rule in Helix of illegal sparklings was enough to scare him into silence. He told me that he tried to steal you back, but when he failed he feared that he got you killed.” Ironhide looked at the door of the elevator once it came to a stop, but he pressed the button to make it stop. “Jazz, I need to know. Why didn’t you try to break from Soundwave sooner?”

The Polyhexian frowned and turned away, “I tried to do it on my own. But he… He forced me to squeeze my spark and make me watch. I was terrified.” He heard the elevator being turned back on, and he was being led somewhere else. Jazz could hear the whispering all around him, and he was quick to stand a little too close to Ironhide. The mech start begging softly, “stop it. Stop it please. Please stop. Shut up, shut up, shut up.”

Ironhide made it to the wash racks for the prisoners with Jazz just barely still sane. He turned the water on for him and waited for him to remove the blanket so he could clean off. Jazz stepped under the water, still holding onto the now wet fabric, and tried to relax but he couldn’t. Ironhide had stood by the exit to give Jazz some sort of privacy, but he couldn’t leave him alone. The Polyhexian tilted his helm back to feel the cool water hit his face.

_Jazz, you really need to learn to work with others. They are your squad mates and if none of you are able to trust each other, you won’t be able to make it far._ Jazz remembered something similar to this, happening during the war. Part of him wanted to trust them and believe them, but another part was sure that they were all playing some sick joke on him. _Let our friends help._ He felt alone in his little world that he forgot Ironhide was even there, and he felt something stir within him.

_Another day, another week_

_Another month, another year_

_Another day, another night_

_Until it’s day again_

_The sun has fled, I go to bed_

_And scratch a line on the wall_

_Another day, where nothing changes at all_

_And every day shuffles by like the day before_

_On its way to the blackest of skies_

_And every day a little death comes and paces the floor_

_And a little bit more of me dies_

_Another day, another week_

_Another month, another year_

_Another night I spend alone_

_Until it’s day again_

_Our little star has moved away_

_And all the world is a blur_

_I only see I am not me_

_Without him_

_Everyday a little death for every day I die_

_Everyday a little death and still I know not why_

Jazz bowed his helm as a servo went to his face, and he collapsed to the floor in tears. Both of his servos were hiding his face as he started shaking even more. Ironhide had listened to Jazz sing, it was common knowledge that he would sing whenever he was alone and some of the ARK members would try to listen in. He remembered the few times he would listen to the Polyhexian, and then his songs were so happy and could pick up anyone’s moods. This song, it was depressing and brought the mech’s mood down. Ironhide walked over to the mech on the floor and shut the water off to silently tell him that his shower was done. Jazz pushed himself off the floor and dropped the sopping wet blanket, and felt a dry towel touching his arm. He dried himself off before he was led to Ratchet, and the medic was throwing a tantrum about the extent of damage Jazz was in. Through the entire fit, Jazz was flinching and whimpering.

The medic had kept Jazz with him for a cycle to readjust his plating to fit properly. There was an awkward silence in the med bay, Ratchet had given up on starting a conversation with Jazz. Ironhide gestured that he’d tell him later, and he nodded before scanning for viruses. The medic’s optics started growing when he watched the numbers climb. “Jazz, I just upgraded your anti-virus software how do you have two hundred viruses?”

He shrugged and listened for anyone else in the med bay. “They did something, one sounded like a medic.” Jazz turned his helm away, not feeling anything that the viruses were doing to him. “Can I go back to my cell?”

“No, you’re staying here until you are virus free. And you’re going to be transferred to another cell before your trial this mid-cycle.” Ratchet explained as much as he could while he updated Jazz’s systems and removed the viruses at a steady speed. “These were medically placed, but they were poorly placed. I’ll have a look at my trainees once I’m done with this.” _I told them to leave you alone. How could so many want to get rid of you_?

The Polyhexian went back to being silent, not wanting to get smacked with a wrench, he felt him mess with his helm and he tensed with fear. The mech’s digits curled around the berth as his intakes were growing rapid. Ratchet scanned his processor for any malfunctions and was relieved that he was fine. A small light on his wrist lit up green and Ratchet unhooked Jazz from his machines. “Is he good to go then?” Ironhide asked his friend.

“Yeah, he’s virus free. His systems will be a bit out of it, had to upgrade his software to level four. If any of my mechs did this, they won’t be able to do it again.” The white and red medic said to Ironhide, but also in hopes to reassure the blind mech. Jazz sat up slowly and groaned as a wave of nausea hit him. “I’m going to put you in stasis, okay Jazz?”

The mech shook his helm, “no. No stasis.” He sat up slowly again and slid off the berth, he felt like slag and wanted to purge, but he wasn’t about to let himself go into stasis. Ironhide grabbed his stasis cuffs and cuffed Jazz’s servos in front of him and led him to his new cell. _Definitely Black light’s creation, wanting help but too scared to accept it._ The mech took Jazz to one of the higher-level cells, and the second Jazz stepped through the hall doors the other prisoners were instantly riled up.

“Look boys the overload toy decided to pay us a visit! Come on Autobot let us have some fun with him!” The voices were pushing Jazz’s buttons, but he kept his helm down to avoid letting them have the pleasure of letting them win. Ironhide felt Jazz tense in his grip when someone said that he was going to fill his valve with so much lubricant that his midsection would extend out.

Jazz slowly turned to the voice and glared at him with his engines revving dangerously. “Open the door Hide, I’ll rip his slagging spike off and shove it so far down his mouth it’ll be sticking out of his aft!” Ironhide knew that it was time for him to get Jazz out of here. He gently pushed him away until they were in front of an empty cell. “Should’ve let me castrate him, would have _really_ riled everyone up.”

“We don’t need that, just behave yourself until later today.” Ironhide pressed his servo against the scanner and let Jazz walk through once it was opened. He closed the door when the other mech was inside. “Good luck Jazz.”

Jazz activated his sound system to scan his new cell. He found the corners and sat down in the corner that had the bolted cot that he could use as a shield. The Polyhexian deactivated it when he knew he was alone.

In Iacon, Prowl was visiting with Bluestreak at his apartment. They were chatting about work, what they’ve been doing on their free time, and all of the topics that didn’t involve Jazz. The oldest Praxian brother was working for the Praxus enforcers department as the new deputy, and he was really proud of himself and everything he did to get where he was. “Oh, hey Smokey should be on the racetrack. Wanna watch?” Bluestreak asked as he went into the kitchen to refill his energon.

“I don’t see why not, at least he found something that doesn’t involve indulging his gambling habit.” Prowl stood up and followed Bluestreak into the living room. “Do you plan on visiting Praxus for the light festival? It’s in a stellar cycle.”

The mechs sat on the couch as Bluestreak turned the holo screen on and changed the channel to the races. “Is it really? Primus, didn’t even realize that it was so close. I should be able to go, what about you? Oh, hey looks like they are starting.” On the screen, the racers were standing at the starting line with cameras flying around them.

“Racers transform and rev up!” The announcer said before the signals flashed one red light, followed by two yellow lights, and as the engines grew louder the green light lit up. “And they’re off with racer number thirty-two Smokescreen of Praxus in the lead!”

The crowd and Bluestreak cheered excitedly, completely forgetting about the conversation. Prowl was watching the race, but he wondered himself if he would go to the light festival. Every Praxian returned to Praxus to watch the crystal gardens bloom and attract the moon’s light to make the entire city shine a multitude of colors. _Jazz would have enjoyed it, I told him I would show him Praxus after the war. And now he has to spend the rest of his functioning in a cell._ The enforcer sighed heavily with his wings dipping down slightly, catching his brother’s attention.

“Hey, Jazz is going to be okay. You’re going to the festival with Smokey and I, and you’re going to at least attempt to distract yourself. Got it?” Bluestreak put a servo on his shoulder, getting a reluctant nod. The second oldest Praxian was needing ways to keep his brother away from the prison.

“I have to work the security team Bluestreak, I cannot go for fun.” Prowl pulled his façade up to distract his battle computer from glitching. The mechs sat in an uncomfortable silence as they went back to watching their brother struggle to block the racer that was on his tail. “This race has a rule for no mods correct?”

The other nodded, “yeah. During the finales they’ll drop the rule. If I had yesterday off, I would have travelled to Velocity to watch in person. I’m surprised Blurr isn’t racing at his home track, would have thought he’d be all over this.”

“I don’t see any Velocitron in this race, but I believe it’s because this track is considered too simple by their standards.” Prowl sat his cube down on the table in front of them as he watched them swerve around the wide turns before going through a loop-de-loop. “I remember Blurr mentioning that the final racetrack had a lot of dangerous obstacles to deal with. If Smokescreen is smart, he would ask Blurr to help him prepare for it.”

Bluestreak nodded with agreement and saw one racer’s tires explode just before a white screen appeared. “What the pits?” On the screen it was the Prime Council symbol and in text underneath it said, ‘We are sorry for interrupting your regularly schedule program’. “What happened this time?”

The screen showed the Prime Council sitting in their spots in a balcony that faced the audience. There were thousands of mechs and femmes there, some were Autobots. In the center of the room was a large, empty space with a small bridge extending out from the entrance to the center of the room. The floor spiraled open and a small platform slowly rose until it connected with the bridge.

Jazz stood in the center of the platform with his wrists cuffed together and an electro-magnetic line connected his wrists to the cuffs around his ankles. Most of the crowd booed when they saw the Polyhexian, some shouted traitor, and few remained silent. The members of the council were Optimus, Ratchet, Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Elita-One, Ironhide, and Blaster.

"On the account of helping the Decepticons through the entirety of the war, you are also being accused of interfacing with Decepticon Soundwave, manipulation of others, theft of Prime artifacts, and attempting to murder Optimus Prime. How does the accused find himself?" Ironhide listed out all of the crimes to the mech in front of them.

"Can we just skip the formalities and get on with it? Nothing I say can redeem myself." Jazz kept his helm down, his digits traced over the chains that he could reach.

“Jazz, don't you at least feel some sort of regret for your actions?" Optimus asked as Jazz's helm turned to the side, showing off the corner of a blind optic. The chains rattled slightly.

"'Course I do. Every day I do, but why does it matter Optimus? Nothing I say will bring back the life that was stolen from me, the mechs I killed, my Sire, or the mech I actually loved!" He looked up in the direction of the voices. "I realized too late that what I was raised as wasn't normal, the love I was given wasn't normal, fraggit Prime I am too sick in the helm to know how to act like a normal mech! I'm... I'm... I'm nothing but an obedient pet who followed his master's orders."

Jazz's helm dropped again. Ratchet looked at Optimus with a frown, he knew that all the data he and Bluestreak collected during the war could help Jazz. "Jazz, in your interrogation with Ultra Magnus, you claimed to and I quote 'the spark gets what the spark wants.' Could you elaborate?"

"My spark wanted Soundwave's approval, his attention for the longest time. I did whatever he wanted no matter how much it hurt, but then I met the mech that made me feel something I never did before. Appreciated, loved, happy." A smile graced his face before his fist clenched and he looked away again with a frown. "But why does any of this matter? I'm going to die anyways, what's a world where I have to know the only mech I truly loved hates me? I just want my last memory to be the day Prowl said that he would love and protect me forever. Why do all of _this_ for a mech that doesn't deserve redemption or can be helped?"

"So, you admit to have manipulated Autobot Prowl. Correct? You knew that Prowl was an easy target to get up the ranks faster, and you chose to use him to get there. Correct?" The young punk, Hot Rod, interrogated.

The blind mech rapidly shook his helm, roaring his engines, before nearly eight hundred jolts of electricity surged through his frame. He fell to the floor of the platform, shaking violently. The electrocution stopped and Jazz didn't move and stared into the familiarity of darkness. He didn't even bother getting up.

“I love Prowl so much that I begged for him to be spared and brought into Soundwave's home where we could be together. I love Prowl so much that I tried to fight for my freedom, but I was too late." Jazz slowly opened his spark plate and stood up with his servo grabbing his spark. There was shouting and gasps coming from all around him, but he couldn't see them. "I love Prowl so much that if I were to ever see him again, I would be too ashamed to look him in the optics and tell him that I'm so sorry for betraying his trust. And I hate myself for that."

Tears were falling down his face as he went to pull his spark out, but a voice called out to him. " _Jazz_!"

"Prowler?" Jazz stopped to look around for the voice, but he was pinned to the ground by guards that had run across the small bridge.

Prowl was nearly off the couch as he watched Jazz being carried out of the court room. He had seen his friend nearly snuff out his own spark. He called out to him out of reaction, and he froze with fear when he watched. “Jazz. I thought you said he was getting better?” The black and white mech looked at his stunned brother with his wings flared.

“I said he was getting better, but it's going to take more than a few sessions to get better. Primus, how did he get so close? His anklet should have detected his thoughts.” Bluestreak watched Optimus and Ultra Magnus settle the crowd down before they went on without Jazz.

“The Council has come to a decision in the final verdict of Jazz. Ten solar cycles in prison, a meta-cycle in house arrest, a deci-vorn of counseling, and a deci-vorn of community service. That is my final decision.” Optimus Prime announced before dismissing everyone.

Prowl collapsed back on the couch and his processor was hurting in a way it hasn’t for a long time. He grabbed both sides of his helm. Bluestreak tried to calm him down, but his battle computer was going into data overload. It wasn't long until Prowl crashed, and Bluestreak quickly commed for the Iacon hospital.

When the mech onlined, he realized what happened, and he sighed heavily. “I crashed again, didn't I?” He looked to his sides to see his brothers and First Aid. “This one hurt even worse than before.”

“It was Jazz, wasn't it?” Smokescreen crossed his arms, his wings twitching angrily behind him. Prowl slowly sat up with only a groan. “Fragging slag it Prowl, just drop Jazz and move the pits on! I don't want to get a comm saying that you deactivated because of a crash!”

Prowl looked up at his youngest brother with his wings twitching behind him. “Smokescreen, it was because he thinks I'm mad at him. We can benefit each other; you know how I am with courting and Carriers are very serious about courting. And I refuse to have just a casual frag partner or go to a brothel to seek out pleasure.”

“Yeah, cause Jazz is a walking brothel.” The multicolored Praxian grumbled and left the other three mechs all in shock at what he had said. Prowl was enraged at how disrespectful his brother just was. Bluestreak put a servo on the white servo and shook his helm.

“Prowl, he’s just worried for you. He’s never seen you crash this bad before. Smokey will get over it, just let him cool down.” The mech said before looking at First Aid. “How long will Prowl have to stay?”

The young medic looked at Prowl’s chart as he answered, “well his vitals are all good and he doesn’t show any signs of backlash. I don’t see why he can’t leave in a groon.” He looked at the enforcer with empathy and placed a gentle, but firm servo on his shoulder. “Prowl, you should be lucky that Bluestreak got ahold of us as quick as he did. If you were alone, the results wouldn’t be good.”

The winged mech nodded and an idea came to mind, and his battle computer crunched in the numbers. _If Jazz ever trusts me again, I could show him the light festival and tell him everything._ Prowl looked up at Bluestreak with his wings rising slightly, “you know what Bluestreak, I think I will be sure to take the light festival off. It has been a long time since all three of us had spent quality time together.” _Eighty percent chance that Jazz would enjoy seeing the colors and hearing the music. Thirty percent chance he would allow a hardline connection. And a… five percent chance Jazz would let me near him. But I have to try, for both of our sakes._

“Are you feeling okay Prowl? You never take time off, not even during the war.” Bluestreak touched his brother’s helm with concern, though the servo was smacked away by a stone-faced Prowl. “Alright, well my place is closer, and I don’t want you driving all the way to Praxus. Thanks Aid.”

The Protectobot nodded with a hidden smile. “You’re both welcome, comm me if there are any changes or concerns.” They both nodded before leaving behind the medic.

When they made it back to Bluestreak’s apartment, Prowl stood in front of a window with a purple geode in his servos. He leaned against the windowpane while casually examining it, a soft smile on his face. The other Praxian was about to ask Prowl if he wanted some energon, but when he stepped into the living area and saw him gently stroking it with his wings moving in a relax state, Bluestreak decided to just watching.

_Hey Prowler, could ya hold dis for meh? Just so ya don’t forget about meh._ Prowl could hear Jazz’s voice in his processor, and a digit ran across the small jagged surface. He smiled with a sigh. “I’m still holding it; I haven’t broken this promise yet. You just get better Jazz, and everything will be fine. You’re still my seventy percent.” Bluestreak quietly stepped back into the kitchen and just decided to grab energon for them both. He walked in with a bit extra sound to get Prowl’s attention. Prowl looked up quickly and hid the geode back inside his subspace. “Oh, my apologies Bluestreak, I didn’t hear you.”

“Oh, no problem Prowl. Brought you some energon.” Bluestreak smiled, going over to his brother and offered the cube to him. Prowl took it with a nod and looked out the window. “It’s a beautiful night, it’s too bad it’s raining. Makes me wish I was back on Earth, no fear of my plating melting off during the rain.” He chuckled while lifting the cube to his lips.

The black and white mech nodded while slowly drinking his energon. “Earth did have its advantages; no toxic rain, no sea of rust, and a lot of different terrain.” He looked at his brother with his wings moving slowly. “I think I’m going to turn in early. Good night Bluestreak.”

“Oh, alright. Night Prowl.” Bluestreak watched Prowl go to the spare room and closed the door behind him. _What did it mean to Jazz? Must have meant a lot if he gave it to Prowl._

For Jazz, his ten days in prison had gone by agonizingly slow, he didn’t know where he was going. He also didn’t know who was leading him to wherever it was he was going. After trying to snuff his spark and then hearing Prowl call for him, he was in a state of shock. _Had Prowl really been there? He came to see me, and he saved me. I… Can I really be helped? Why did Prowl wait until my trial to see me? They were trying to keep us apart, that’s why he hasn’t seen me. That has to be it, Prowl didn’t break his promise, they wanted to punish him for being with me. Or Prowl wanted to torture me one last time before leaving me alone again._

“Come on Jazz, Ratchet wants to make sure your cleared before we go.” Jazz was pulled out of his thoughts by Ironhide. He stepped out of the elevator and he followed the mech to the medical center. “That anklet is supposed to prevent you from harming yourself, how’d you get so close to doing it?”

“I focused on the voices. Where are _we_ going?” Jazz asked defensively as he was stopped by Ironhide. He heard the cuffs on his wrists and legs being removed before Ratchet led him onto the berth. The Polyhexian saw a warning pop up, and he growled at the medic. “Why are you messing with my interface array and my spark chamber?”

Ratchet mentally scolded himself for just getting started without explaining first. “I’m locking your interface array as a precautionary to prevent any interfacing, just until Bluestreak decides that you’re not going to bite anyone. And after your trial, Prime and I think that it’s for the best until I think you are no longer a danger to yourself. Next, I’m going to put up a buffer to put your Carrier programming on hold.”

Jazz stopped growling and forced himself to relax. He took several calming breaths before seeing another warning pop up. He tensed up and sat up quickly with his flailing limbs knocking trays and machines away from him. “Wait, wait, wait. Just wait! How long on hold?”

“As long as you want, but for now until Bluestreak and I feel like you are… ready.” Ratchet said as nice as he possibly could. He returned to going through the check-list once the Polyhexian settled back down. “Jazz, if you don’t relax and let me do my job, I will restrain you or put you in stasis.”

“You can say it Ratchet, it’s like it’s not common knowledge I’m not mentally sound. You’re doing it until you two decide I’m sane enough. Was there ever a time I was sane?” Jazz sighed heavily and shifted uncomfortably in his spot. He didn’t want to be put in stasis or restrained, it meant he was left vulnerable to anyone. “Where am I going afterwards?”

“My home here in Iacon. I’m going to be sponsoring you in simple terms, but I’m going to make sure you behave yourself and go to everything you’re supposed to when you’re supposed to.” Ironhide crossed his arms. He had volunteered to do it, after Drift being a successful rehabilitation. He knew Jazz was going to be a tough case, but something in his spark told him that Black light would have wanted him to help his only son.

Jazz gave an exasperated laugh, “are you being punished for something? Or did everyone else pussy out?” He didn’t use human curse words, but he felt it was appropriate for what he was trying to get across. Ratchet pinched some wires, getting Jazz to flinch violently. “Ow!”

“I am too busy to deal with you and in case you care, Ironhide volunteered to do this. The only other two mechs that offered were strongly advised against it.” Ratchet saw the weirded outlook the blind mech gave in Ironhide’s general direction. He finished deactivating everything he needed and helped Jazz up. “Alright, I won’t need to see you unless something happens other than that half a stellar cycle.”

Jazz bit his lip as questions that had been nagging at him finally burst out. “Visors? When do I get to _see_ again? And my t-cog?”

Ratchet was impressed that it took Jazz this long to ask that question again. He hummed thoughtfully as he looked at Ironhide for a timeline. “A stellar cycle, which is the end of your house arrest. Same with your t-cog. You, make sure he stays fueled and takes care of himself. If he has a panic attack, just sit with him.”

_Glad that I’m being involved with this._ Jazz crossed his arms with a pout on his face. Ironhide nodded at the information given to him, “got it doc. We’ll have to walk, don’t worry it isn’t super far from here.” Jazz was thankful that Ironhide was nice enough to put a servo on his shoulder and guide him through the prison until he stopped moving. “Jazz. Jazz? Come on, you’re drawing a crowd.”

“He’s teasing me through the bond. I can feel him, Hide.” Jazz grabbed at his spark and looked at the ground, his servos shook as he felt the malicious playful pull at his spark. “I… I need to make sure he’s okay. Please Hide, just this once.”

Ironhide looked around uncomfortably as they stood in the middle of the lobby. He wrapped an arm around the multicolored mech, and gently forced him out of the building. “He is fine Jazz. Soundwave is just trying to keep you here.” The red mech was able to snap the shorter mech from his odd trance, and Jazz was able to focus on other things. Ironhide noticed that Jazz was standing half an arm length away from him and was mouthing something. “You okay there, kid?”

“Counting to distract myself from the auditory overload.” Jazz answered before going back to counting. “His home took me 10,800 steps to walk it in a solar cycle. The ARK was 3,200 steps. Kaon was too much to count; stopped counting after a million. The base during the war was 100,000 steps give or take a step.” He folded his arms under his chest.

“Well while we are walking, I have some simple house rules that you’ll have to follow. No high grade, no narcotics, no bringing anyone home without asking, no trying to sneak out, I’ll be doing a room inspection every seventh solar cycle, and once your house arrest is over you have to be back home by nine.” Ironhide gave out his standard rules before adding more. “I’ll be keeping a log for all of the rules you’ve broken and turn it over to Optimus and Bluestreak. Understand?”

The Polyhexian nodded and hugged his arms tighter. “Doubt you’ll have to worry about curfews, can’t see.” He heard cat calls and he was wanting to curl up and die. His thought got a small warning shock, and he yelped out of instinct. “Stupid thing, would prefer the shock collar.”

“Oh, that reminds me. Once you step inside, it’ll activate the silent alarm. So, if you step outside before the stellar cycle is up, I’ll be notified of your location, and will have to send you back to prison.” Ironhide said after the shock. He had to help the mech when it came to crosswalks, not wanting him to walk in the middle of traffic and get damaged. Jazz went quiet but nodded to Ironhide’s statement. He wondered how long the kid would last being cooped up after so long.

“Why was Ratchet the one who started this whole thing? Clearly, he’s the ringleader, and forced everyone else to be involved.” Jazz tapped his digits against his crossed arms. “Did he get tired of me sending everyone back with energon all over? Or was he trying to help a crazed mech?”

“Ratch’ felt bad for you.” Ironhide simply said as he saw his home in view. “Prime gave me fifteen solar cycles off, just to help you settle in and get used to the extra space.”

Jazz nodded quietly, not liking any of this. _What if this is all a trick, and I’m being led to some auction? What if this is going to my death? What if we took a long walk back to the prison just to toy with me?_ The Polyhexian whimpered and started panicking and backed up slowly. “I’m not going back there. I don’t want to go back into that pit. You can’t make me go back!” He looked like an animal that was ready to attack.

“Woah, woah Jazz we are really at my home. Use your systems to see that. Calm down kid, I’m not lying.” Ironhide didn’t think that Jazz would have an attack so sudden. He watched the mech activate his sound system and scanned around. Jazz was slowly coming down from his moment of madness when he saw that they were really in a different part of Iacon. He sent his waves out further and was relieved that he couldn’t see the prison anywhere near them. “You good?”

The Polyhexian nodded after sending them even further. He deactivated his system and he stood straight. “I-I’m okay now. I’m okay.” Jazz was saying it to tell himself that he wasn’t being led back to the prison. Ironhide helped Jazz inside the single-story home; it had a simple set up, but unfortunately Ironhide has been in the middle of organizing his weapons so his home looked like a tornado had being through it. Jazz sniffed the air and gave the red mech a confused look. “Explosives? Branching out, are we?”

“Sure.” Ironhide wasn’t about to tell Jazz that he was holding most of the prisoners’ weapons here. “Just organizing, so careful. Living room is on the right, kitchen on the left, my quarters are on the right just past the storage closet, and yours is going to be on the left. We have our own wash racks and there’s also an office that I turned into a workout room, so you can use that when you want. Stay out of my room.” Ironhide explained while trying to gather his scattered ammo.

Jazz mentally counted how many steps it took to get from the entrance to his new room. He pushed his back against his door with a moment of fear, Ironhide was about to try and calm him down but Jazz quickly retreated into the room. The mech heard the lock engage, and he sighed heavily. “What did you get yourself into this time Ironhide?” He decided to get started on cleaning the place.

Jazz sat in front of his door with his servos grabbing his helm as he tried to calm himself. “Relax Jazz, relax this is Hide. He’d never force himself onto me, but he was the one who threw me around and beat me. But he’s trying to help me now.” He broke down and pulled on the bond hard. “Please comfort me, I need comfort.”

By the next morning, Ironhide decided to check up on Jazz. When he got to the door, he remembered that the door was locked but it opened when he pulled it open. He expected to see Jazz in stasis on the perfectly good berth, but what he wasn’t expecting was to see him on the floor underneath the window. The mech was curled up with his face buried in his arms. Ironhide took a still image and sent it to Ratchet and asked what to do. Ratchet commed him quickly.

::Put him on the berth, it’s his subconscious training to lay on the floor. Just be very careful about it.:: He said before disconnecting.

Ironhide quietly sighed and went over to the Polyhexian. He slowly lifted him into his arms, finding out how light he still was. _Gotta get you working out._ Jazz sighed heavily in his stasis, his processor conjuring up a sweet memory of him and Prowl.

_“Jazz, what are you doing out here?” Prowl sat beside Jazz as the Polyhexian leaned against his arms while looking at the starry night sky. Jazz laid his helm against Prowl’s shoulder before pointing at the stars._

_“See dat big blue star Prowler? Dat’s our star, whenever Ah’m away on a long mission, Ah look up at dat star tah remind meh dat yer here waitin’ for meh. It reminds meh of ya really.” He smiled with a relaxed hum._

_The Praxian looked at his partner with confusion twisting on his face and his wings flicking in the same confusion. “How does a ball of gas and fire remind you of me?”_

_Jazz laughed before kissing his lover’s shoulder. “Tah some it’s just a star tah others it’s different and is ignored for its difference. But tah meh, it’s beautiful and should be admired.”_

When Ironhide successfully laid Jazz on his berth, he saw a tear gently falling down the side of his face. “Prowler… help me.” The Polyhexian softly whispered before burying himself under the layers of thermal blankets. The red mech decided to leave him alone to recharge after a few rough days. When Jazz onlined again, his internal chronometer told him that it was the next day. He groaned and rolled over until his arm hit something soft, and in a small bit of panic he fell to the floor.

Ironhide was talking with Ratchet in the kitchen until they heard a sound coming down the hall. They rushed to Jazz’s quarters and saw the mech on the ground venting heavily. The red mech slowly approached the panicked mech, “calm down Jazz. It’s okay, I put you in the berth, so you’d be comfortable.” The Polyhexian backed up when he felt the digits barely touch his arm. “Jazz, calm down.” Ironhide said with a warning tone.

“Can’t… Can’t. I can’t.” Jazz grabbed his helm and squeezed his optics shut. “N-Need… Need -wave.” He took ragged intakes as he struggled to control his ventilation himself. Ironhide looked at Ratchet, who had yet to announce his presence, for guidance. The medic knelt beside the blind mech and rubbed the bases of his horns very gently. At first Jazz was startled, but he very slowly started to calm himself.

“See, you don’t need him. I told Ironhide to put you in your berth, so you don’t get cold. It’s okay Jazz.” Ratchet said softly while continuing to rub the horns. Jazz leaned close to the medic but didn’t touch him. _He’s letting me touch his horns, we’re making progress._ The medic stopped massaging the appendages on top of the mech’s helm when his scanner read that his spark was calming down. “Only a day out of that place, and you already have a near crash.”

Jazz cupped the side of his helm with a groan before his tanks churned quietly. “I feel like I’m going to purge. Haven’t felt this way since Devastator.” He laid down on the floor with another groan.

“Since Devastator what?” Ratchet asked Jazz as he stayed near him in case something happened. The blind mech peeked over his arm with that look that got the two older mechs to look shocked, disturbed, and astonished when they seem to have gotten on the same page. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Disgust, betrayal, and distraught would be a good start. Oh, wait every _good_ description word are currently engraved in me, any of them seem fitting.” Jazz said with a snarky tone. He glared into nothingness as the glyphs appeared in his processor, and he got a small zap and kicked in reaction. “I will cut my leg off if it zaps me again!”

“And it’s going to remain on if you continue to think like that. Come on let’s get you energon, we’re all gonna clean up my weaponry.” Ironhide pulled Jazz onto his peds and helped steady him before doing the same to Ratchet. “And Jackie isn’t home, so you can’t use him as an excuse to ditch me.”

_Hey, that was my nickname for Wheeljack!_ Jazz folded his arms and looked towards the window. “Wouldn’t be able to go home anyways, it’s raining.” He could hear the pattering of the rain outside. The Polyhexian sighed depressingly and it made him crave Earth’s harmless rain to race through while getting all muddy. Jazz tried to think of happy memories, but each time he tried to focus on the good it’d remind him of everything else. The mech’s shoulders sagged, his face twisted with a frown, and he looked in the direction of the floor. “I hate the rain.” He followed Ironhide and Ratchet out of the room with his sound system helping him not bump into anything.

By the following solar cycles Ironhide was finishing his report for Jazz’s progress, or in the red mech’s opinion lack of progress. _Twelve fragging panic attacks in one afternoon, Primus Black light wish you were here to help._ He reclined against the wall behind his berth and noted how quiet everything was. The mech stood up from his spot to go check on Jazz, he didn’t think the mech was dumb enough to already snap and try to escape. When Ironhide left his quarters, he walked past the living room before slowly backing up to stare at it. He knew it was cleaned after him, Ratchet, and Jazz all cleaned up the weapons and ammunition, but not to the point everything looked untouched.

The couch was straightened up, the table was dusted and polished, the holoscreen was dusted, the shelves were polished, windows were cleaned, the floor was reflecting the ceiling, and the walls were cleaned too. Slightly weirded out, Ironhide went to check the kitchen and he nearly tripped over his peds. The ceiling and floor reflected the opposite, the walls were sparkling, the dining table and chairs were cleaned and straightened up, the counters were clean, the appliances sparkled, the lights were cleaned, and the windows looked brand new.

::Hey, uh Ratch’ did you stop by while I was working?:: Ironhide asked as he went to the office turned work out room and grew even more surprised. The weights were organized, the treadmill was wiped down, floor was cleaned, windows were washed, and the rest of the exercise equipment was wiped down.

::No, been busy at the hospital. Why?:: Ratchet said after a few moments of no reply.

::My house looks… it was professionally cleaned.:: The weapon specialist had yet to find Jazz and went to check the only place he could be which was his quarters.

::Anything beyond a quick pick up is professional in your optics.:: The medic teased his friend, not giving any attention.

Ironhide opened the door and saw Jazz kneeling in front of his only window, cleaning it. Beside him was a bucket of cleaner and in his servo was a rag. ::Very funny, I found the culprit.:: The mech disconnected before clearing his voice box to get the other’s attention. Jazz shouted and accidently kicked the bucket all over the floor, and not so gracefully ended up on the floor. “I’ve certainly seen you fall more graceful. What are you doing Jazz?”

_Frag. Frag. Frag! I just dumped water everywhere! And just cleaned Ironhide’s home without asking. Frag!_ Jazz stared in the direction of the mech’s voice with an expression a sparkling would give when caught doing something they weren’t supposed to. He quickly stood up and answered. “N-Nothing master… I mean sir…. I mean Ironhide. Frag.” The Polyhexian groaned and covered his face in disappointment for his slip of the word master. “Sorry. It’s just I had nothing to do, and you were busy, and Ratchet had been complaining about how messy your home was. I won’t do it again if you don’t like it.”

_Five solar cycles for that kind of slip._ Ironhide waved it off, “naw go ahead and clean if you want. Just caught me off guard is all. Never seen this place so shiny before, reminds me of the barracks when you were still a rookie.” He tried to joke with the mech, but there was no reciprocation. _My friend Jazz would have laughed at the joke._ “Bluestreak is stopping by mid-cycle tomorrow.”

“O-Okay. Did you invite someone over last night?” Jazz asked quickly after a moment of silence.

“No, why?” Ironhide asked after stopping in the doorway, turning back around to face the shorter mech.

_Guess it was just my imagination._ The Polyhexian shook his helm, “nothing must’ve been a dream.” He sighed heavily, feeling really disappointed that even his own processor was playing tricks on him. Jazz’s ped splashing in the water was enough to remind him of the mess he made. Sensing the conversation was done, Ironhide decided to leave him alone. “I could have sworn I heard music last night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am working on Delta Darya, so don't fret readers :) I want it to be super special since it's going to put Mirage through a lot of trial and error.
> 
> I hope you do enjoy the alt ending of TWOS though


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz is extra panicky and retreats throughout the entire chapter. Prowl wants to see the Polyhexian, but is forced away from him.

Ch. 4

“No Prowl, you cannot just sit and observe. A meta-cycle, that was the deal, you stay away from Jazz for a meta-cycle and if he is ready then you can talk to him. He needs to heal without you, his subconscious latched onto you to replace Soundwave as his master, so having you there would only teach him to get better if it’s what you want.” Bluestreak took the datapad from his brother’s servo and placed it in his subspace. “And that is for mine and Ratchet’s optics only.”

“But Bluestreak, twelve in the span of five cycles? I’m genuinely surprised Jazz hadn’t crashed. And Ironhide mentioned me in his report, what if I could help him? There is a fifty percent chance that I could help Jazz with at least the panic attacks. He’s terrified of being blind, I’ve been inside his processor Bluestreak, when he was unable to see he felt constantly alone. Music was his only grasp on the world around him, and Soundwave used that thirst for sight to keep Jazz under control.” Prowl stood up and was getting emotional as his battle computer was rapidly ringing out numbers.

The younger Praxian knocked back his energon before pushing his brother out of his apartment. “Prowl, go to work and let me go to mine. There is a strong possibility that you could make Jazz worse. Ratchet and Preceptor are making visors for him, but they won’t be ready until much later. Now please go home or work or something.” Bluestreak locked his apartment door and left for Ironhide’s.

Jazz was feeling nervous and extra jumpy today, but he didn’t know what about. He felt paranoid and that someone was coming into his room at night, and Jazz was having trouble recharging because of it. “Calm down Jazz, calm down. No one is sneaking in and watching you recharge. Ironhide promised that no one can get in.” He was rubbing his neck out of habit to calm himself while pacing his room. “It’s okay, it’s okay. We’re doing this to get better, this is just Soundwave trying to get you back. I don’t want to go back. But what if someone is watching me? What if they are trying to do stuff to me while I’m in stasis? No, no, no shut up.”

A knock on the door was enough to pull Jazz back to reality. He looked up as the door opened, and he backed up slightly as he tried to register whose steps those were. “Woah there hot shot, I come in peace.” The Polyhexian relaxed slightly more when he heard Bluestreak’s voice. Bluestreak looked around and gave an impressed whistle, “when Ironhide said that you cleaned, he wasn’t kidding. Should have you come to my apartment and clean for me.” He laughed at his playfulness, but Jazz just turned away slightly with his servo hugging the opposite arm close to his side. _Also lost his sense of humor._

“Are we talking in here?” Jazz ignored the joke and shifted uncomfortably.

“Why don’t we go sit in the living room?” Bluestreak wanted to pull Jazz out of his small safe bubble, and then see if he’d still be okay to talk. Jazz just nodded and followed the Praxian to the living room. Jazz was sitting on the couch and Bluestreak sat in the chair that was adjacent from the other mech. “Why don’t we start off by talking about the twelve panic attacks? Can you tell me what started it?”

Jazz leaned against the arm of the couch with his legs pulled up to his chest. He looked away from the Praxian. “Optimus came over, and I freaked out.”

“Could you explain why?” Bluestreak silently typed out what Jazz was saying. He also took notes on how much he acted like he did when he first arrived to Iacon during the war. _Ratchet did say that he threw a secondary personality chip on the ground when he shouted at him and Ironhide._

“I… I… I thought I was being taken back.” He hugged his legs tighter and buried his face in his lap. Jazz gave out a small whimper.

The Praxian leaned forward slightly and put a supportive servo on his back. “Jazz, from Ironhide’s notes you have no reason to fear of being taken back. From the looks of things, you physically check out and you have something to keep you occupied. You have a lot of inner strength that you aren’t even aware of. We didn’t think you’d last fifteen solar cycles with being cooped up inside with nothing to do. You should be proud of yourself.”

Jazz shook his helm before resting his helm between his knees. “I found a loophole to the anklet.” He squeezed his optics again and forced himself to not cry. “If I distract the part of my processor that the anklet reads, I can still think about… things without getting zapped. I also sit outside during the lunar cycle, but I keep my leg inside to keep it from going off. There’s nothing to be proud of Bluestreak. I called Ironhide master! I’m not getting better, I’m getting worse! How can I get better when all I can think about is how much hatred Prowl feels towards me?!”

“Prowl doesn’t hate you.” Bluestreak said while keeping his servo on the mech’s shoulder. Jazz looked in his direction with his pale blue optics wide and tears lining under them. “He is staying away until you are able to handle yourself. And I understand that you’ll have moments of lapses into your past role, and we are not going to hold it against you. Jazz, have you heard of a spark transfer?”

 _Prowl doesn’t hate me? He’s waiting for me?_ Jazz teared up and opened just a sliver of his EM field. Bluestreak felt absolute relief and happiness coming from the blind mech, but there was also fear. The mech shrugged and pulled his legs away just enough to look up. “We mentioned it during the war.”

“Correct. But to go into a bit more detail a spark transfer is a medical procedure where if the frame or sometimes even the protoform is beyond repair, the medics will take the spark out and keep it safe until a new frame is built. For protoforms, they’ll take a small piece of the original one and grow a new one inside a nanite rich tank. Once the body is ready, they’ll place the spark inside the new body. There has been an eighty percent success-rate, but there is a side effect that the medical association hasn’t been able to avoid.” Bluestreak explained as he sat back. He didn’t usually recommend this so early in the treatment, but he knew that Jazz could use it to keep positive.

“What’s that?” Jazz inquired after taking time to absorb the information. He latched onto the idea of having a new body. _I could build it to how Prowl would like. This isn’t the war; he wouldn’t want to be seeing mated to a Polyhexian. But I like my horns… would he care if I didn’t have wings?_

“Memory loss. In some cases, it’s major memory loss, but it’s mostly minor.” Bluestreak said and watched Jazz for his immediate reaction.

Jazz’s spark dropped as he realized what was at stake. He could lose all memory of Soundwave and what he had done to him, but he could also forget Prowl. The Polyhexian knew that it would mean he’d be confused why all of Cybertron hated him. He looked down slightly as he thought about it even more. _I want to remember only Prowl and all of the good I actually did. But what if I remember only Soundwave? What if I forget everything?_ Jazz looked at Bluestreak with his EM field flickering slightly. “But I could have a clean slate? No brands?”

 _Is he really considering it? Does he not realize what is at risk if he goes through with this?_ Bluestreak questioned to himself as he nodded, “if you are wanting to have a new protoform then yes no brands. We can come back to the spark transfer topic at a later date. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

“Um… I… I’ve been feeling like someone has been watching me recharge. I’d online to music playing quietly, but Ironhide has told me no one has been around. But I _remember_ hearing it because I spent the rest of the night in the kitchen.” Jazz said before Ironhide walked in.

“Are we having a party? Primus Jazz, it’s gonna take a deca-cycle to go through all of that.” Ironhide had only peeked into the kitchen after a few groons working out. The table and counters were covered in an assortment of energon gels, rust sticks, energon hard candies, and more flavored things.

Jazz looked away while pressing his digits together. “Sorry, I just cook and clean when I’m stressed. Got your own house Carrier, aren’t you lucky?” He pulled his EM field close to him, unaware of the glare Bluestreak was giving his new guardian.

“It’s fine Jazz, I’ll just give some out to Ratchet. And you, Bluestreak, are taking some too.” Ironhide said as he put a servo on top of the black helm, getting him to open up again. “I’m going to the store, is there anything you need?”

“Y-You’re leaving?” Jazz felt his spark pulsing rapidly at the thought of the red mech leaving him alone. He hadn’t thought much about him leaving because he was still on vacation. _What am I going to do if someone comes in when I’m alone? What if I have really bad panic attack?_ _No, stop it Jazz, deep intakes._ Jazz started rubbing his horns and slowed his racing spark. “Um… well you’re out of cleaner and polish.”

“Alright, I’ll be back in a cycle.” Ironhide nodded before leaving the two alone.

Bluestreak took note of how Jazz interacted with Ironhide. He knew it wasn’t a good idea to tease Prowl, but he figured it would be entertaining to see how he acted when he took some to him. “Why don’t we go sample all of these goodies you made while we continue our talk?”

“You really want too? You don’t have to do that to make me feel better.” Jazz sat up straight and rubbed his servos on his legs. Bluestreak pulled the mech onto his peds.

“Nonsense, I want to gorge. Come on.” The steel blue Praxian led him across the hall and came to a screeching halt, causing Jazz to bump into his back. When his optics landed on the sight of the kitchen, Bluestreak realized that Ironhide wasn’t kidding. “Primus, Hide wasn’t kidding when he asked about a party. How long did it take you to make all this?”

Jazz rubbed his face with a grumble once Bluestreak released him. “I dunno, eight or nine groons. I told you I was stressed and freaking out.” Bluestreak looked around at all the different colors and snacks that filled the counter space. “They probably don’t taste that great anyways, so I’m just gonna discard all of it.”

Bluestreak picked up a pink energon gel and popped it in his mouth. His wings flared and he moaned at how sweet it was. “Are you kidding? That was the best tasting gel I’ve had. Reminds me of my Carrier, how did you know what you were doing?” _Definitely taking some home. Primus, I wanna take him home if he’s gonna fill my apartment with sweet gels_.

“My sound system. The waves make different sounds for everything it bounces off of.” Jazz said as he picked up a small highlighter yellow gel, and gently sucked on it. His tanks loved the feeling of the acidic energon taste, but it made him think of Prowl. “Blue… were you telling the truth? When you said that Prowl doesn’t hate me?”

 _He used my nickname!_ Bluestreak got really excited that Jazz was using his pet names again. He knew that it was either a slip of the glossa or he is finally making his way back. “Does a purple crystal mean anything to you?” Jazz nodded as he ate another acidic gel. “I’ve seen Prowl hold onto it like it was the most precious thing in the world. Can you tell me its significance?”

“P-Prowl’s kept it?” Jazz stared at Bluestreak with tears sliding down the corners of his optics. “I-I gave it to him as a gift before that mission in Europe. After my surrender, I figured he’d toss it and forget about it. Like… me.” He picked up a few of acidic flavored stuff and threw several of the trays across the kitchen with a shout of rage.

 _Okay, a bit of a temper when memories of Prowl are brought up._ Bluestreak was glad that he was able to save a few items from Jazz’s rage. “What about Prowl angers you?”

“He promised! He promised me that he’d never leave me! He promised he’d love me no matter what!” Jazz slid down the side of the counter with his servos covering just his optics. “When I thought I was sparked, he promised he would help me raise it. And he broke _every single_ promise. He left me, he doesn’t love, so why would he want to have any kind of family with me?”

 _Promises to mean a lot to Jazz, Soundwave most likely used them to make him happy. I’ll have to talk to Blaster about some things involving with dealing with Host bonds._ “Final question and then we can clean up. Why do you still hold onto Soundwave? You know that your Sire had been looking for you, you have mechs helping you with recovering, and you know that Prowl does _not_ hate you. So why hold onto the mech that had hurt you, branded you, forced you into interfacing, and treated you like an animal?”

The multicolored mech turned his helm down slightly as he tried to think of an answer. _Because he’s all I have. No, you idiot, Bluestreak’s right why hold onto him? Soundwave is the only mech I saw as a Sire. No, during the war Black light was more of a Sire than Soundwave, and he was our Sire. He didn’t break his promises. But he was going to erase your memory banks of everything, so who’s to know that he wouldn’t have hurt Prowl?_ Jazz’s digits curled around the back of his helm. “I… don’t know.” His voice cracked towards the end.

“Well I believe that will end our session, but I want you to do something for me. Make a list of every good and bad thing Soundwave has done to you and put it on a datapad. And when we talk again, we’ll go over it.” Bluestreak walked on the other side of the counter, minding the mess, and helped Jazz up. “Now, let’s get this all cleaned up before Hide gets back.”

 _A list? That shouldn’t be that hard._ Jazz nodded before going over to a small cabinet where a broom and dustpan was stored in, along with the rest of the cleaning supplies. “Is it pretty? Iacon I mean.” He asked while feeling around for the broom before grumbling, “I told him to stop storing the slagging broom right side up.”

“I won’t spoil it; you’ll have to see when you get your new visors.” The Praxian said with a smile before going over to help the mech. “Here let me help.”

A couple lunar cycles had pass; Jazz was sitting in the windowsill with his optics closed. He was enjoying the sounds of the outside world and had a datapad in his servo. The mech couldn’t see the screen, so he resorted to downloading what Bluestreak had wanted him to do. The conscious part of his processor was focused on the sounds that he let his subconscious part fill in the blanks. Ironhide was in his quarters on a comm call with Optimus, talking about everything involving Jazz.

::Optimus, the kid is fine. He actually hasn’t tested boundaries like Drift did when he was here. Bluestreak said that their talk went better than he had thought, did say there was a couple rough patches. He said that he’d talk to Ratchet and Blaster to see if maybe sticking him in the room with Blaster will be a thing.:: Ironhide said while cleaning a new blaster at his desk.

::Well after my visit, I feared that I had hurt whatever progress you’ve made.:: The Prime explained guiltily.

The red mech gave a chuckle before setting the weapon down on the large towel that was used to protect the desk. ::Well not only was your visit a surprise, you walked up to him quickly, and tried touching him. We’re working on the approaching and touching, but he doesn’t like surprises.:: He stood up just as a knock came to his door. _Huh, I thought he was in stasis?_ Ironhide went over and opened it to see Jazz standing there with his gaze on the floor. “Hey kid, I thought you were in stasis.”

Jazz held his servos out and opened them with his palms facing Ironhide. “I… I need help cleaning up. I’m sorry, I dropped a datapad on the ground and tried to clean up the glass.” He bit his lip with a pained whimper as the stinging continued. The Polyhexian couldn’t see it, but Ironhide was quick to pull him into his quarters and sat him on the berth before going to his washroom and coming back with a first aid kit. “I’m sorry, I know you said to not come in here but-”

“Stop apologizing, it was an accident.” Ironhide said while cleaning the wounds. Jazz twitched, but like the branding during the war he didn’t make any verbal sound. The red mech took some bandages and wrapped them. “Not ‘Ratchet standard’, but it’ll help until your repair systems kick in. Come on, I’ll clean up the glass.”

The Polyhexian nodded and followed the older mech to his quarters. Jazz touched the bandages, “what am I supposed to do while you’re gone working? What if something happens and I need you? My comms are gone, I can’t leave, and I can’t see.” He knew that it was going to be a thing until he could leave and when his community service started.

“Anything you want, just remember the rules. Until you are able to go out, Prime said that I won’t be working as much. There’s an external communicator on the table in the living room, so if you really need something use it.” Ironhide stood up with the shards of datapad in his servos. “Can I ask what happened?”

Jazz rubbed his arms and cracked under pressure. He looked in the direction of the window and spoke softly. “A part of me wanted to see Soundwave, so I was thinking about jumping out. But I backed away from the window, and I tripped and broke the pad. I don’t want to go back, I really don’t but I’m scared.” The Polyhexian clenched his fists pinned to his sides and he looked down with his optics squeezed shut. “I don’t want to be, but I’m terrified that I’m going to online back in the cells or worse in Kaon. I want to be strong; I want to be someone Black light would be _proud_ of, but I don’t know if I can. And I hate it, I hate what I am, I hate who I am, and I hate how I don’t know how to be who I want to be.”

Ironhide placed a firm servo on the shaking shoulder with a proud smile. “Well you’re strong enough to fight against that ridiculous bond, and that alone makes me proud. And Black would certainly be extremely proud when the day comes, and you finally break away from that creep. Don’t worry about the far future, just take this whole process one step at a time.”

 _Makes you proud? What would my spark feel like without a bond?_ Jazz looked up with his fists unclenching. “You’re serious? You’re proud of me, even though I’m not how I pretended during the war? It seems you, Ratchet, and Bluestreak prefer that Jazz.”

“I am being serious. And I think that the Jazz we all know and love, is deep down in your spark just waiting to explode out. We’ll talk more in the solar cycle, get some recharge.” He rubbed the top of his helm, avoiding his horns, and left with the mech alone in his room.

Ironhide had left Jazz to his own devices so he could go to work. The red mech had stop by the medical center and dropped off a container of goodies that Jazz boxed up. The Polyhexian had labeled the small containers with what was in them. Ratchet and First Aid both looked up and saw the red mech hand them a couple containers. “You’ll have to thank the kid for these. Gotta go relieve Springer with yard duty.”

“Oh, okay. Hey, don’t forget about that appointment Jazz has with Preceptor and I!” The older medic shouted after the retreating mech. He shook his helm before opening the container and looked at the sectioned off energon treats. “Wow.”

Ironhide was walking along the boardwalk on the fence with a blaster strapped to his hip, cuffs on the other side of his hips, and a small taser on strapped on his left calf. He was looking at the mechs and femmes that were in the yard. There were a couple towers in the far corners. The red mech saw a small gathering in a corner under one of the towers and he radioed whoever was in the yard with them.

::Hey, we got some sort of mob under the right tower.::

::Got it, checking it out.:: It was Blades who responded, he went with Air Raid to the crowd. Ironhide watched out for the two as a precautionary. The moment that the two fliers walked over, most of the crowd dispersed. ::Looks like someone tried to be the new yard boss. Going to take the punk to Ratchet.::

::Got it, I’ll call for backup.:: Ironhide said.

Back at the house, Jazz was in the hall scrubbing the floor before he grabbed at his spark with a groan. He whimpered as the pain grew, “stop it. Stop it! I’m not yours to control.” The pain continued to grow, and Jazz fell on the ground as he started sniffling. “P-Please stop it! I’m sorry. I’m sorry m-master.”

The pain suddenly stopped, and a playful tug was enough to make Jazz cover his face in disappointment. Jazz knew Soundwave was only doing this to show how much of a hold he still had. He grabbed the sides of his helm with anger that he let Soundwave win. “Why can’t I let you go? You only hurt me until I started stepping out of line, then you were nice. Why couldn’t you have had a sparkling like a normal Carrier? Why can’t you just leave me alone!?” Jazz shouted before punching a hole in the wall beside him. He jumped up and started punching at the wall behind him repeatedly. “You are the reason I’m like this and all I want to do is rip your spark and crush it! But… then my spark would be empty.”

Jazz was controlling his intakes before he heard a soft squeak coming from a window being opened. His helm shot up when he heard several pairs of peds shuffle around in one of the other rooms. The Polyhexian’s intakes started increasing and he backed up slowly. He was in such a heightened state of panic, that he forgot about the bucket of cleaner that was on the floor, and accidently kicked it over. The sounds stopped and Jazz knew that he was surely dead.

 _I can’t see, I can’t fragging fight, and I don’t know who this is or where they are. Think Jazz, think what do you do?_ The black and white Polyhexian continued to back up slowly but froze again when he heard the intruders come into the hall. His heel barely stepped in the sudsy water, and he fell on the floor. He shook his helm as his auditory horns rang, “wow did Ratchet remove your grace?”

“Hound, rude.” Jazz’s optics widened when he recognized the two voices. His intakes started increasing even more, and he started crawling backwards as his imagination started going crazy. “Woah there Jazz, we all just came to see if you were really here.” Mirage said as he waved his servos in front of him.

“I told you guys that we should have waited until Ironhide was here.” Jazz recognized Bumblebee’s voice, but he didn’t stop backing up. “Jazz, will you just let us explain why we’re here?”

“To kill me? To silence me? To make my anklet go off so I go back behind bars?” The Polyhexian slowly stood up and he kept a servo on the wall and activated his sound system. He started scanning the area, and he saw all of his old Ops team standing there. “What you all want in on this?”

“No, we wanted to make sure you’re okay. You’re one of us Jazz, we look out for-” Hound said before Jazz scoffed and glared at them.

“Don’t _you dare_ say you look out for your own. Where the frag were you all twenty years ago?! Oh, that’s right standing there watching as I was getting taken apart! Mirage got a chance to explain when Cliffjumper thought he was a traitor! Where was mine!?” Jazz smacked his servo against chest as he pressed his servo firmly on the wall. “I am not going to be tricked into thinking that all of a sudden you are my friends again. Final warning, leave me alone or else.”

Jazz saw Bumblebee’s outline walk between him and the others. “We _are_ your friends Jazz, after you turned yourself in we were all questioned. We were at your trial to support you; you have to believe us.” Bumblebee slowly reached out for Jazz’s free servo and lifted it to his horn. “We should have been quick to helping you, Ops is a family and family help each other when we need it.”

The taller Polyhexian turned his helm, his servo still holding the small horn, and to everyone else he looked like he was really thinking about it. _“Jazz, as an Ops agent you can’t trust anyone. Except each other. We are family, and family help each other when they need it. We can trust each other to know when we’ve been compromised and will do what needs to be done to see that we are dealt with.”_ Jazz remembered Blacklight telling him that and when he was helping him train. The multicolored mech relaxed his posture and took his servo off of the wall.

The four other mechs all smiled and relaxed their posture too. Jazz took his servo away from Bumblebee’s horn and folded his arms in front of him. “Please leave. The Jazz you all seem to want, isn’t here.” He turned his back to them and hugged his arms tightly.

“We aren’t going anywhere Jazz; we have your back. There’s a party that’s going to happen when your house arrest is up, _everyone is going_.” Trailbreaker said, seeing the blind mech’s helm shot up at the information.

Mirage nodded with agreement, “it’s at Prime’s place, but all ARK members and guests are going. And seeing as you were a member of the ARK, you’d be going.” Jazz flinched at the memory and looked down. “At least come to it as our guest.”

 _I can’t go, I’ll see everyone staring at me. But they won’t leave me alone if I tell them no._ Jazz looked over his shoulder and frowned, “fine I’ll go. Now please go away.” He heard them quickly leave when they believed the lie. _I can’t ever show my face to Prowl again; I don’t want to hear his disappointment in me._

By the time Ironhide came home, the house looked as if Jazz just cleaned it. He heard humming coming from the kitchen and saw Jazz making something. “Whatcha making?”

“Um… gel filled rust sticks. Also putting some different ores and stuff in it. I did it again… He got mad at me for trying to break the bond, and he started hurting me through it. He didn't stop not until I said it, and I said it.” Jazz admitted as he stared into the pot of melted energon and iron. “I called him master.”

Ironhide walked over to Jazz and put a servo on his shoulder and looked at the concoction. He silently enjoyed the smell, finding it oddly pleasing to his senses. “Have you tried blocking the bond? You know the creep is doing it to keep you in control.” He went to taste the contents in the pot, but Jazz smacked his servo away. “Hey!”

“It's not ready. And I can't… not when I'm so emotional, I tried to be like him and not let my emotions get the best of me, but I can't do it. I don’t like crying in front of others because he engrained it into me that crying was a weakness. I try to reign my emotions in, and something happens, or he decides to show up, and it blows whatever strength I have away.” Jazz grabbed a rust stick and dropped it into the boiling liquid. “I had to learn a bunch of different recipes from this really grumpy old hag. I'm used to being hated, so I don’t know why I'm surprised that I'm hated by everyone.”

The red mech leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “Hey, can't be depressed for long. You're almost done with your house arrest; you'll get the anklet and your sight again. And just in time for-"

“I'm not going.” Jazz knew what Ironhide was about to say, thanks to his surprise visit from Ops.

“But you don't even know what I was going to say.” Ironhide said baffled by his sudden response.

Jazz took the tongs that were in his servo and pulled out the rust stick that was now a purple and silver swirl. The Polyhexian sat the dripping stick in a tray of cold iron chunks. He blocked the two ends with the chunks before rolling it around. “The party at Optimus’s home that's also happening when my house arrest is over with. I know. Ops decided to come pay me a visit, and I'm not going.”

“But Jazz you have too, all members of the ARK has to go.” Ironhide didn't understand why Jazz would want to not go to a party when he can finally leave.

“I'm not going, okay? I can't go because I'm not going to be welcomed, I'm not going because how can I have the gall to look at everyone after what I did?! I'm not going to a stupid party just because ARK members have to go.” Jazz stormed off to his quarters, slamming the door before collapsing on his berth. _Because Prowl will be there._

Ironhide sighed and shook his helm. He turned the stove off and sat at the dining room table with a rub of his helm. “What am I going to do?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you've made it this far, then you are aware of the warnings.

Ch. 5

“Hello Jazz, how are you today? Did you do the datapad like I asked you to do?” Bluestreak asked as he sat in the chair beside Jazz. The Polyhexian picked up the datapad that sat beside his peds. “You're not really talkative today. What happened?”

“Ironhide came up behind me when I wasn’t paying attention, surprising me, and I kicked him in the pelvic plating. And I was so embarrassed I started bawling and sir slipped out like ten times. Blue, what if Soundwave's hold on me is too strong for me to break free?” Jazz frowned while Bluestreak looked over the list.

He gave a chuckle, “explains the dent and why he was extra grumpy. Don’t worry Prime was there to sympathize him.” Bluestreak said with a chuckle, but Jazz whined and covered his helm. “I was teasing you, it’s okay to laugh at yourself every once in a while.” He watched the multicolored mech relax.

“How come you weren’t here when Ops decided to scare the living scrap out of me? Tried convincing me to go to some party that apparently ARK members have to go.” Jazz asked while he pulled his legs up to his chest. A small tinging sound finally caught his attention, and he tilted his helm. “What’s that?”

“Oh, I went to this festival in Praxus last night. It’s called the light festival, happens every couple of years. Every Praxian returns to Praxus to celebrate it.” Bluestreak explained with a smile as he moved his wings to make the small ornaments that were magnetized to the outer corners. “I have door wing ornaments that have glyphs and small chimes on them.”

Jazz relaxed at the soothing sounds of the chimes. “I hope Prowl went; I remember how long it took me to convince him to let me take him to that Chinese New Year festival. He nearly glitched on me when I told him I wanted to wear a Kimono.” He gave a small chuckle as he hugged his knees. “It was so nice to just get lost in all of the colors; I miss Earth. It was like a fresh start for me.”

“Well to answer your questions as to why I wasn’t here when the others were, was because I had to deal with difficult patients at the prison. And I hope you plan on going to that party, everyone will want to see you.” Bluestreak said with a smile before removing the four ornaments, looking at them briefly before gently placing them in Jazz’s servos. “Here, you keep these. Give you some sort of connection to Praxus.”

Jazz glanced in the Praxian’s direction in a bit of surprise. He gently curled his digits around them, having a hard time picturing what they looked like. “I _really_ doubt anyone let alone everyone would want to see me. And I’m not going.” He sat the ornaments on the couch with a small sigh.

“Well everyone important like Ops and everyone cheering you on wants to see you. And it’s going to be a few solar cycles after you get your visors, so you’ll be able to _see_ that. So, from your list I had you do, you’ve got a decent number of things to not really like Soundwave for. Forced interfacing, interfacing with some mecha-animals, excessive force on punishments, made you walk around Kaon in a muzzle with your valve exposed.” Bluestreak’s voice increased in astonishment as the list went on and on and on. “And you only have your sight, still functioning, and offering to keep Prowl online as good things Soundwave has done for you.”

After hearing out loud of a few of the things Soundwave did to him, Jazz struggled to keep his intakes together. “If he found out about everything I’ve done, he’d be even more disgusted of me. I’m disgusted with me. I just wanna start over.” He hid his face in the cushion with a whine.

“Well Ratchet and I talked, and we think that perhaps having someone experienced with memories could help. It would require a bit of planning, but would you be up to having a Blaster join us in a session? I promise he won’t tell anyone outside of you, me, him, and Ratchet.” Bluestreak suggested carefully, knowing that Blaster being a Host Carrier would make it difficult for Jazz to get close.

Jazz sat up quickly and stared in his direction with fear in his optics. “B-Blaster? I-I… I don’t know if I’m ready for that. What’s he going to do to me?” He shifted in his spot with his servos on his legs nervously.

“Nothing you aren’t ready for, but he’s just going to help you with your bond troubles. Remember Jazz, we have a deci-vorn of therapy, so we can take this at whatever speed you want. I can at least tell you that I’m glad you’re being more cooperative than some of the criminals I have to see. Why are you being so cooperative, if I can ask?” Bluestreak leaned close with his wings checking Jazz’s EM field, sensing how calm it was becoming.

He shrugged slightly, “You helped me before and you're doing this mostly for Prowl's sake, and I don't want to disappoint Prowl again.” Jazz looked away and winced in pain. “Stop it, stop hurting me.” The Praxian noticed that Jazz was grabbing at his chest with a whimper. He moved beside the Polyhexian and held the curled up mech in his arms.

“Block him Jazz, you can do it. I know you can do it. Remember when you took Ops to the mud pits, and you chased Prowl through the Ark to get him all dirty?” Bluestreak rubbed his helm and chuckled at the memory. Jazz nodded and whimpered as the pull became harder, he felt them all pulling on the bond and he could feel their anger. “It was the first time you told him that you loved him, and Prowl was so shocked he hugged you despite how dirty you were.”

The Polyhexian's processor was building up walls, and the pain was subsiding. “I want my Prowler; I want to be someone he'd be happy to be with. But… at the same time I want him to move on from me.” His helm was laying in the Praxian’s lap, relaxing into the comfort.

“Why would you want Prowl to move on?” Bluestreak was having to contain his excitement when he heard Jazz use Prowl's nickname. _I have to tell Ratchet about this, come on Jazz I can see the real you in there._ He rubbed his helm but avoided his horns until the other allowed it.

“No one wants a broken and used frame like mine, and I'm not Praxian.” He pressed himself closer to the other's frame. Jazz covered his frame and forced himself to not get emotional.

Bluestreak didn't know if he should smile at Jazz's willingness to give up on Prowl to see him happy, or frown for him wanting to give up on what made them both happy. “Prowl didn't care before the war and he doesn't care now. He hasn't been with a single mech or femme since you, because he couldn't get himself to move on. Maybe you two should write to each other, give you some form of contact. That'll be your next assignment, write a letter to Prowl about whatever you want. And you can decide to either give it to me to give to him or you can keep it to yourself to give to him in person.”

“Why do you want me to do things involving Soundwave and Prowl?” Jazz asked while silently enjoying the massage. His EM field was very lax and almost sleepy, and Bluestreak continued until Jazz decided it was enough.

“Because you need to let yourself get over Soundwave, and that's by acknowledging what he has done and forgiving him for his actions. And before you start ranting, I'm not saying to forgive him and bring him back into your life, I'm saying to forgive and move on. And as for Prowl, you have a lot of pent up emotions towards him that you should get off your plating.” The steel blue Praxian flicked his wings. “When Prowl saw you nearly extinguish your own spark, he crashed so hard and so fast his own spark almost gave out. He blamed himself for twenty years and became more of a workaholic than before, glitching whenever something triggered a crash.”

Jazz sat up quickly with wide optics and his mouth gaped slightly as it quivered. “He saw my trial? And he crashed because of me? How can you be willing to help me when I’ve been hurting Prowl?” He frowned at the Praxian, feeling extremely guilty for what he has caused to his friend.

The Praxian grabbed his servo and squeezed it gently. “It was on the holoscreen, so everyone had to have seen. He crashed because he blames himself for your imprisonment, and for twenty years he’s been trying to go see you.” Bluestreak saw the genuine shock in Jazz’s face. “You’ve got time to think about it but come to the party and at least see everyone. I’ll work on getting Prowl to come as well.”

 _It would be nice to talk to Prowl in person and apologize in person for everything. And apologize to Optimus._ Jazz made a thoughtful sound before giving a small smile. “Okay, I’ll think about it Blue. Hey, I um… made some boxes of rust sticks. And you mentioned liking sweet flavored stuff. And I don’t like sweet, and Ironhide doesn’t really like flavored stuff.” He stood up and shifted uncomfortably. “Hide has been taking the extras with him, and it gives me something to do.”

“Trying to sweeten me up Jazz?” The therapist chuckled and saw Jazz flash a small smile. They went to the kitchen, while Bluestreak sat at the table the Polyhexian went to the fridge and pulled out a small red box. He walked over to the table and sat down with the box being pushed to Bluestreak. The Praxian opened the lid and saw that it was sectioned off into three sections; one long section and two small squares. In the long section were five rust sticks all dipped in energon and amethyst with pink sodium chloride crystals covering each stick. In the top square were several sweet energon gels and in the bottom were tiny frozen energon chews. “Wow, these look amazing Jazz! How come you never made any of this stuff during the war?”

He smiled at the praise, hearing Bluestreak pick up one of the treats and purr at how much he liked it. Jazz folded his arms on the table with his helm bowed slightly, “no one asked. And it wasn’t really a useful skill to openly use during it. You can take whatever you want, I’ll just end up making more next time I panic. Hide tried getting me to clean his arsenal next time, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Well maybe when you’re able to leave, you can come clean my place. It’s in downtown Iacon.” He teased before groaning as he ate one of the rust sticks. Jazz covered his mouth and gave a small chuckle. “Mm, before I forget would you prefer to have Blaster and Ratchet come over before or after your visors are reinstalled?” _A chuckle and a few smiles, that’s a start._

“I don’t know, I want to be able to see everyone but… I’m still scared to see scowls.” Jazz rubbed his wrists nervously, he shifted in his spot. “You promise Blaster, or his minis won’t do anything to me?”

“I promise Jazz, and for the time being the Cassetticons won’t be around. And I can promise you that I won’t have a scowl on my face. Ratchet? Has he ever smiled?” Bluestreak jokingly said and saw Jazz bite his lip as he tried to not giggle. “Do you have any idea what you’ll do for your community service?”

The multicolored mech shrugged, “does leaving Cybertron and never showing my face again count?” Bluestreak frowned and lightly flicked Jazz’s elbow strut. “I was kidding, wouldn’t be a bad idea though.”

“Well I would love to see your face when you see Iacon. What parts of Cybertron _have_ you seen?” Bluestreak sat the sweets aside for him to take home. Jazz’s servos wrapped around his upper arms, hiding some glyphs, with a frown on his face.

“Kaon, Tarn, Vos, Stanix, and Tyger Pax. Kaon was the first city I saw, and he would walk me around the city like an Earth dog. And I let it all happen because I didn’t know better, because I wanted to make him happy.” Jazz’s anger was slowly rising, and his servos clenched tightly. “Nothing I did was ever enough, every little thing was worth a beating, and I took the blame for everything his little monsters did wrong!” He stood up and growled in anger before flipping the table.

Bluestreak stood up and reached out to calm the enraged mech down, but Jazz tackled him to the ground. The Praxian was struggling underneath the mech as he was trying to wrap his servos around his neck. “Jazz. Jazz! Jazz, it’s Bluestreak. Wh-Whatever you’re seeing, isn’t real!” He was trying to get the blind mech to snap out of it, but Ironhide had returned home from work and saw the situation. Without asking any questions, Ironhide pulled Jazz off of Bluestreak.

“I’m going to kill you Soundwave! I’m going to make you pay!” Jazz wasn’t aware of Ironhide holding him back. He was trying to pry the arm wrapped around his waist, he was kicking and shouting. “You ruined me!”

“Kid, kid snap out of it. Soundwave isn’t here, he’s still in Newgate.” Ironhide held onto him tighter, until he felt Jazz still in his hold, but he kept ahold of him just in case. “That’s it kid, calm down.” Jazz took hard intakes before he went limp into the red mech’s arm.

Bluestreak stood up and fixed the table before taking a breather. “Quite the aggressive reaction. Are you okay Jazz? What happened?” He sat back down in his spot while Jazz held onto Ironhide’s arm. His EM field was all over the place in emotions.

“I saw him. He was in front of me laughing. He was touching me.” Jazz whispered before breaking down, Ironhide held onto him to give him some comfort. The Polyhexian started shaking and was losing control of his intakes, and Bluestreak knew exactly what was about to happen. He laid him on the ground and commed for Ratchet immediately. Ironhide didn’t know what to do to help Jazz, he hadn’t seen him panic this bad before. Jazz was grabbing at his chest as his intakes were growing harder to get. He could feel Soundwave in his spark and helm, thrilled to know that he was winning. _Can’t let him win. I don’t want him to win._

Ratchet was checking Jazz’s spark reading and looked at Ironhide with confusion. “Jazz should have onlined by now, his vitals are all fine. Three days is worrying, at this rate I’m going to need to transfer him to the hospital and put him on a drip. And you’re sure he didn’t take anything to cause this? No powdered Selenium?”

“No, I strip searched this place no narcotics. I even did a drug test, he’s clean Ratch’.” Ironhide was rubbing his helm with equal confusion as he watched his charge with a deep frown. He couldn’t think of what was causing this, he wasn’t sure what could have caused a crash this hard before. Ratchet pulled out a small syringe and drew some energon from Jazz’s wrist. He looked between his digits and any places he knew druggies liked to use to hide injection spots. “Ratchet, the kid _is not_ on anything.”

“I have to be thorough. I’m having Blaster come to get answers, I need to inform Prime about this.” The medic explained before covering the still frame of Jazz. He looked lifeless in the two mech’s optics, but his shallow intakes were enough to show that he was alive. When Ratchet had arrived to Ironhide’s home three days ago, he walked in on Bluestreak and Ironhide trying to calm down the seizing Jazz.

Ironhide nodded before closing the curtains for Jazz. He followed Ratchet out of the room, both missing the servo tracing a glyph into the thermal blanket. They sat in the living room in thought, and the weapon specialist slammed a fist on the arm of the chair he was sitting in. “Primus frag it, if I could, I would kill Soundwave for Jazz.” For months Ironhide would online from stasis to hear Jazz crying out for help or hear sounds coming from around the house. He knew Megatron was a monster, but Soundwave was the embodiment of Unicron to do the things he did to Jazz.

“I know, but we all have to talk about it. We have to worry about not only Soundwave’s life but all of his Cassetticons’ lives as well.” Ratchet put a servo on the red mech’s servo. He commed Blaster to come over as soon as he could tomorrow, they needed to figure this out before anything could damage anything. The Host replied just as quickly, letting him know when he’d arrive. “Blaster and I will stop by mid-cycle tomorrow, so get some recharge.”

The mech nodded as he rubbed the growing processor ache. He didn’t know what to do to help Jazz besides what he has done. “Alright, thanks Ratchet for staying here to help.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ironhide, Ratchet, Blaster, and Bluestreak find out why Jazz passed out. Jazz struggles to accept a lot of from his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breem: 8.3 minutes
> 
> Vorn: 83 years
> 
> Cycle: 2 hours
> 
> Groon: 1 hour
> 
> Nano-klik: 1 second
> 
> Deca-cycle: 30 days
> 
> Deci-vorn: 8.3 years
> 
> Klik: 1.2 minutes
> 
> Mega-cycle: 93 hours
> 
> Meta-cycle: 13 months
> 
> Stellar cycle: 7.5 monts
> 
> Astrosecond: .5 seconds
> 
> Solar cycle: 1 day
> 
> Lunar cycle: 1 night

* * *

Ch. 6

Blaster and Ratchet arrived to Ironhide’s home, Bluestreak was there with Ironhide carrying Jazz to the living room. The Host wanted him there, so he could transfer the hardline from their processors to the holoscreen. This was the first time Blaster had seen Jazz since the trial, and he felt like he walked into a very loud EM field. “Primus, his thoughts are even louder than my jams.” Blaster looked at Rewind with a serious look as he spoke through their bond. _Imma need ya tah make sure dat none of ‘em try tah pull meh out while Ah’m in his processor._

 _Got it Blaster._ The mech nodded with a smile in his optics. Ratchet looked at Bluestreak while him and Ironhide carefully lowered him down. “Has he shown any signs of onlining?” Before the Praxian could tell him about the weird discovery, Jazz’s digits started twitching slowly. The medic got excited by the small movements before they stopped. “Well it’s a good improvement than yesterday. Ready when you are Blaster.”

The red and yellow mech nodded before sitting on the couch beside Jazz’s helm. He lifted his helm into his lap and started rubbing his temples. “Ya guys should’ve asked meh tah come sooner, he ain’t gettin’ better. Ya’ll too focused on his mech processor dat yer forgettin’ he's still mentally a symbiont. Ya need tah convince dat part of his processor dat it needs tah let go of dah Host mech dat is hurtin’ him.” Blaster felt a flare up of fear when he barely touched his mind and pulled out and comforted the mech again. “Shh, it’s aight my mech. We’ll take our time.”

“He isn’t a symbiont Blaster; we’re trying to break that habit.” Bluestreak said while Rewind sat on the arm of the couch beside his creator. Blaster asked the recharging mech permission to touch his horns. “He isn’t going to respond Blaster; we need to know what’s wrong with Jazz.”

“Physically he ain’t a symbiont, but he is mentally and remember Wave was convertin’ him into a Host Carrier like us. Dis runs deeper than just a mental thing, it is in his codin’. Jazz, Ah’m gonna hardline with ya so just relax yer mind for meh.” He grabbed the cable from his processor and looked at Rewind, holding out his left arm for him. The Cassetticon took a small wire and connected it to an extension wire that was connected to the holoscreen. Blaster rubbed the horns and gently opened the panel behind Jazz’s helm. “Jazz’s mind is wantin’ tah break free from dah host bond, but it can’t without someone else tah latch onto. Ah can help Jazz with a healthier one, but ya can’t completely give up on somethin’ when it’s all ya ever known.”

Ratchet nodded in understanding what Blaster was saying. Ironhide leaned forward and nodded at Jazz’s twitching digits. “Why’s he doing that?” He looked at the three mechs for an answer.

The therapist answered after examining the movements. “It looks like he’s trying to draw a glyph, but I can’t read it. It’s not Praxian or Iaconian. What about either of you?” He looked at the two other mechs. Blaster turned his helm to the side and shrugged with a frown. Ratchet shook his helm, not knowing either. The telepath was going to visit his brother and ask him about the glyph while he tries to convince his minis to join his family. Again. “And we’ll be able to see what you see through the screen?”

Blaster nodded and rubbed Jazz’s helm gently, “yeah. Jazz’s processor is gettin’ a sense of meh. It doesn’t know whether tah trust meh or not, but dat’s because Ah’m invadin’ his safety net. Dat’s why he crashed like dis; Soundwave was messin’ with him and his spark did what it thought was best and shut his mind off from his body.” He felt some walls break after some moment of silence. “Dat’s right J, let meh help ya break free. Just us in yer processor, let meh in.”

The walls in Jazz’s processor broke, and Blaster took a ragged intake from the wave mental emotion. He shook his helm slightly before laying his helm back and slipped into his processor. The screen was black before a spotlight appeared in the center of the screen; Blaster walked closer to the light before a pair of arms wrapped around him. Blaster jumped from being startled, turning around to seeing nothing behind him.

“Be very quiet, he’s listenin’ tah all of my thoughts.” Jazz’s slang came from behind the mech that was in his helm. The mech turned and heard a light-sparked giggle echo in the darkness. He walked towards the giggles as a femme humming got him to stop and look as colors wrapped around him. Blaster saw a bassinet appear in front of him under a spotlight, he walked over to it and peered inside to see a visorless Jazz laying in it as he cried. The Host mech picked him up and shushed him before the sparkling disappeared and shouting filled the darkness.

“ _Please Sir Soundwave, don’t take my precious sparkling.”_

_“Should have thought about it before having an illegal creation.”_

_“Take me instead.”_

All sounds stopped before doors popped up from the ground and surrounded Blaster. He went for the one in front of him before a servo grabbed his, causing him to jump with a small shout. The red and yellow mech looked to his left and saw Jazz staring at him. “Jazz, Ah came here tah help ya. What’s in dat room?” Jazz slowly shook his helm and pointed to the door that was behind Blaster. The yellow visored mech looked at the door and then at Jazz with confusion. “Ya want meh tah go in there? Why won’t ya talk?”

Jazz pointed to his neck and showed a collar that had a small light blinking softly. Blaster went to the door behind him, opening it slowly, and walked through. He was standing in the corner of the room and saw a very young Jazz looking up at Soundwave with his arms folded behind his back. Soundwave backhanded him hard enough to send him to the ground.

_“What do you say for breaking my rules?” Soundwave stood over the youngling as he was trying very hard to not crying but failed as tears were falling and Jazz was smacked again. “You’re making Master very angry Jazz. What are you to say?”_

_“I sowwy.” He wiped his optics hard and looked at Soundwave as he tried to put on a smile. “I am a pet, and I am a good pet. Good pets don’t cry, because crying is bad. And if I’m bad, the meanies will take me away from Master.” Jazz stood up again before putting on a brave face._

_Soundwave nodded before kneeling down in front of the young Polyhexian. “Good job my pet. You make Master so proud of you.” He gently rubbed the small horns, getting Jazz to purr._

Blaster backed out of the memory in shock. He looked around and heard crying come from one of the other doors. The mech opened it and walked through it, this time Jazz was fairly older. He noticed the collar around his neck, telling him that he didn’t get collared until he was older.

_“Jazz, what did we talk about crying?” Soundwave walked over to an armorless Jazz, who was straddling a wooden horse with his valve exposed. His servos were tied up in the air in front of him, his legs were tied to weights. The blue mech had a metal rod and ran it down Jazz’s spinal strut before smacking it hard in the center of it. Jazz screamed in pain as he thrusted forward._

_“N-Not to c-cry M-Master. I’m sorry, p-please it hurts.” Jazz bowed his helm as he tried to not cry. His helm was pulled back to look at Soundwave, and he pulled out a smile to show he wasn’t crying. “Please Master, I’ll do anything. Please it hurts.”_

_Soundwave hummed as he walked around the restrained Polyhexian, and his frown turned into a grin. “Anything? Why don’t we go on that walk? I do have a few things I need to get, maybe we can go stop by the pet store. How does that sound?”_

_Jazz flinched and bit his lip as he started crying again._

Blaster stepped out and heard moaning coming from the next door. He didn’t want to go through it, but he did. What he saw was the middle of Tarn, during the war; Soundwave, Shockwave, and Megatron were all there. He got closer to see Jazz on all fours with his servos tied into a black sack, an open mouth gag to keep his mouth open for use, his legs cuffed to a spreader bar, and his valve and aft open. There was a large cage that was opened up, and two very large cyberwolves walked out.

_Jazz looked over his shoulder and shifted with fear as the two wolves started licking his valve and port. He moved his hips forward with a moan before Shockwave pulled one of the wolves to the front of him. Jazz knew what he wanted and started licking the wolf back. “Soundwave, the things you make your glitch do. Wonder if he could truly handle any spike size.” The scientist said while the two wolves started mounting him. Jazz was whining and moaning from the fast thrusts in his mouth and valve._

_Soundwave was grinning down at Jazz and knelt down besides Jazz, pushing the wolf that was thrusting into his mouth closer to Jazz. The Polyhexian started gagging before he was allowed to get his intake. “Well there are combiner teams, or you could build a Predacon. If Jazz can handle Megatron and I at the same time, I doubt he wouldn’t be able to handle a combiner. Wonder if Omega Supreme or Metroplex have spikes, maybe we could use them as a test run? What do you think pet, would you like to participate in a little test for master?”_

_Jazz shifted around and moaned. The wolves both knotted inside of Jazz and started clawing him up. Once they both overloaded and pulled out of the black and white Polyhexian, Jazz’s valve plating was manually shut, and Soundwave covered his mouth. The visored mech swallowed it before looking up at the three mechs that were all grinning at him wickedly. The gag was removed from his mouth and he spoke. “If it’ll please you master.”_

The Host Carrier pulled away before he was faced with the last door. Jazz was standing in front of it, and he was staring him down. “Jazz, Ah want tah help ya. Ah can give ya better Host bond, if ya will let meh.” The Polyhexian pulled away and Blaster walked through. He was standing in the ARK, standing near Bluestreak’s quarters.

_Jazz knocked on the door and Bluestreak stepped out with a smile on his face. “Hey Jazz, what’s up?”_

_“Hey Blue, Ah… there’s somethin’ Ah need help with. Like Ah could be in big trouble.” Jazz rubbed his arm with a look of guilt. Bluestreak tilted his helm with confusion but nodded and stepped out of his quarters to go take Jazz to his quarters and talk. But the second he stepped out, the twins came barreling through and pinned Bluestreak, completely ignoring the fact that Jazz was there._

_“Optimus needs to talk to you about something.” Sunstreaker said before dragging Sideswipe off. Jazz hid his servos behind his back, as he hid the fact that he was pinching on wires. He had a smile on his face and gave a forceful chuckle._

_“I’m sorry Jazz, do you want to talk now before I go see Prime? If he even really needed to see me?” Bluestreak laughed jokingly, and Jazz waved it off with a smile._

_“Naw my mech, we’ll talk later. Hey, um could ya do somethin’ for meh though?” Jazz opened his subspace and pulled out a datapad. “Could ya give dis tah Prowler for meh? Tell him tah not read it till Ah get a chance tah talk tah Prime.” Bluestreak looked weirded out but nodded and took it before Jazz walked away._

The scene changed to Jazz standing in Prime’s office with his blaster in his servo and his insignia in his servo. Optimus looked in complete shock at how frazzled his friend looked.

_“Jazz what’s going on?” The Prime sat up straighter and watched his SIC lift the blaster in his face. The blaster didn’t stop moving until it went to the side of his helm. “Jazz! Jazz, put the blaster down. Whatever is going through your helm right now, we can talk it through.”_

_Jazz shook his helm and his servo shook, “Optimus, Ah… I have a confession to make. I have been helping both sides of this bloody war, since the second I joined. My master, is Soundwave, and I was sent in to destroy the Autobots from the inside out. Megatron was going to kill you himself once I weakened you, but he wanted me to kill you myself.” His shoulders shook as he continued to confess. “But I couldn’t, I realized that I was just being used, and I tried… I tried to break free from Soundwave, but I couldn’t. So, I killed Megatron by using the poison on him, and then stabbed him through the spark with the Prime sword I stole. I just wanted to do one right thing before I got rid of myself.”_

_“Jazz, put the weapon down. We can talk this out.” The Prime stood up very slowly before pinging for backup. Jazz shook his helm rapidly and moved a digit to the trigger._

Blaster was forced out of the memory and saw a spotlight shining onto Jazz as he knelt on the floor. When he got closer there were two versions of him fighting over top of him. “Why did you have to be an idiot and trust them!? They’re just going to throw you into some whorehouse, or worse use you for themselves! You idiot Jazz! Master would have taken care of us and Prowl! We’d still have our sight!” The version of Jazz with the collar around his neck was yelling at him.

“They ain’t gonna do dat! They’re our friends, our real friends, they want tah help us. Ya know Soundwave was gonna erase our memory banks and continue tah have us bend over backwards for him. How could we have trusted him tah keep Prowler safe?” The Jazz on the left had his Autobot insignia on his chest.

“If they were our friends, why did they rip our visors off and throw us in prison? Why did a mech like Mirage get a chance to explain himself, but we get jail time for saving a _Prime_ and killing Megatron? Master was only going to erase the war, so we didn’t suffer, he _kept_ his promises. Where was Prowl when we screamed for him to help us!? Oh, that’s right leaving us with a look of disgust!” The collared Jazz shouted, and the kneeling Jazz held his helm and ducked closer to the floor.

The Autobot Jazz stood in front of him and lowered to his level, making him look at him in the visors. “Blue told us dat Prowler is waitin’ for us. He’s kept his promises so far and so has Hatchet and Hide. When we were with Prowler, we were safe and happy. Soundwave is still hurtin’ us instead of supposedly lovin’ us. Give Soundwave up, let go of dat monster.”

“Don’t do it Jazz, you know you’ll be all alone if you do. Your spark is going to feel empty, and no one will want to be there for you to fill it. No one understands us, Prowl isn’t waiting for us. He was just using you for his own gain, he found out that interfacing helped with his crashes, and was only using you to help himself. Master loved us and wanted us happy and safe.” The other Jazz pushed the Autobot version away and put a servo on Jazz’s shoulder and pushed the orb closer to his chest. “Go back to Master.”

Blaster walked over to the three versions and put a servo on Jazz’s servo. Jazz looked up with tears falling on his face. The yellow visored mech smiled and blocked the other two by building a box around them. “Jazz, Soundwave ain’t a good mech and he’s usin’ yerself tah keep ya under his control. Ah can help ya bounce back and show ya how tah have a healthy bond. If ya let meh, just give meh dah light and let meh fill dat emptiness.”

Jazz and Blaster looked at the light as it pulsed brightly, and Jazz cringed in pain as negative vibes were pulsing through the bond. He shook his helm and used his arms to protect the light. “No, you’ll just hurt me like he did. Bonds are never a good thing.”

“Jazz, Jazz look at meh.” Blaster got the mech to look back up at him. He opened a part in his arm and pulled out a chip. “Black light gave meh a copy of his memory files of ya. Ah have ‘em out in dah real world too if ya want tah have proof dat they are real. Would ya like tah see ‘em?”

The visored mech looked at the collared mech shaking his helm while the other was nodding. He looked at Blaster as he sat up straighter and nodded silently. Blaster smiled and placed the chip in Jazz’s helm. A memory popped up, and they both looked at it. They were in a home and there was a humming sound coming from another room. Blaster helped Jazz up as he pointed at the black mech. The mech had two large curved Polyhexian horns and he stood in the doorway of the nursery.

_“Singing again to him I see? Have you figured out a name for our little sparkling?” The mech walked over to the femme as she held the small bundle in her arms. “I tried talking to the Council, they aren’t willing to have their best operative move to the main city.”_

_“Black light, what are we going to do though? The enforcers here are going to kill our sparkling and then throw us in prison. Why not just ask to move to like the outer skirts of Iacon or Praxus even?” She looked down at her sparkling with worry. He shifted in her arms before giving an almost sing-song coo. “I see we have a musical prodigy on our servos. I kind of like Jazz, reminds me of the times you took me to the jazz bar on our dates.”_

_Black light laughed before sitting beside his mate, and gently touched the very tiny horns. “Jazz? I like it, our sweet little Jazz. And I promise you that I’ll give you the best life ever, I’ll fight for it if I have too.” He kissed the center of his helm._

Jazz touched the same exact spot as he listened to his Carrier return to humming. Tears trickled down from under his optics. “They… They really did love me. She’s so pretty. Can I see more?” He quickly looked at Blaster with a look of need for more. Blaster nodded with a smile and they moved to another memory. This time they were in a berth room, there was a bowl of hot water and lots of towels.

_Black light was rubbing his mate’s helm with a wet towel before moving to between her legs. “Come on Torch, you’re almost there. You’re doing great my spark.” He couldn’t take Torch to a hospital because their creation would have been killed and they would get in serious trouble for breaking the law. He was planning on taking her to his friend in Iacon, but she had started going into labor sooner than they had expected. “We’ll take our sparkling to Iacon as soon as I can get the Council to get us a home.”_

_Torch was biting onto a towel as she cried in pain before pushing some more. She gripped the blankets underneath her as she pushed some more. Black light kept the bond open so he could make sure his mate was fine. He looked back down a smile in excitement when he saw two tiny horns poking out. “I can see horns Torch, just a few more pushes.”_

_Just after several more pushes, Blacklight was holding flailing and crying Jazz. He was cleaning him off and handed him to his mate. “He’s beautiful Torch.”_

Jazz walked to the memory of his creators and saw the smiles on their faces. He looked up at Blaster with his lips trembling. “Blaster, I need help.” He grabbed his chest plate with a pained cry. Jazz dropped to his knees with his servos going to his helm, everything disappeared as memories spun around the two mechs. “Stop it! Stop please, it hurts!”

Blaster knew what Soundwave was doing, but he wasn’t going to let his brother win again. He moved in front of Jazz and put his servos on top of his to get his attention. “Jazz, Jazz focus on my voice. Imagine a safe place. Where did ya feel safe at when ya were hurtin’?” Jazz looked up at him with tears on his face and he looked to his left. Blaster looked with him and saw a door standing there with an Autobot insignia engraved on it. “Can Ah look in it?”

The mech looked down in his lap with his servos dropping to it. “He promised he wouldn’t hurt Prowler. He promised that he’d be nicer to me if I killed Optimus.” Jazz looked at his friend with a frown. “If I stay asleep, he can’t hurt me or my friends.”

“Soundwave knew dat promises were important tah ya, and promisin’ dah things dat meant more than anythin’ was gonna make ya more obedient. And Ah promise ya dat Ah _will_ help yer spark heal. Ah won’t hurt ya and ya won’t get hurt anymore.” Blaster held out his servos for the ball of light.

Jazz looked at it one last time before handing it to Blaster, and he watched him crush it. The Polyhexian whimpered in pain, but Blaster held him close. “I’m scared.”

Blaster gave a soft smile and shook his helm. “Don’t be, we’ll start off small. Ah’ll block ya from my minis, so yer not bombarded with all of their thoughts.” He watched him nod before they opened their chest plates, and he pressed their sparks together until connection was established. Jazz pulled away slightly and looked at the mech with a frown. “It’s okay tah let yerself feel emotions. What’s through dat door?”

Jazz looked at the door and stood up slowly. “I-I don’t know.” He walked towards it and opened it before they appeared in a memory. The Host Carrier stood beside Jazz as they watched Jazz stand on top of the ARK with a chip in his servo. “I-I remember now. My personalities are merged.”

_“I can’t have a ped in both worlds anymore. It’s time to choose Jazz; obedient pet or loyal Autobot?” Jazz looked up at the sunset with his servos on his chest. He looked at his peds with a ragged intake. “But Soundwave will get suspicious if I’m not submissive at all, what could a little personality merging do? ‘Sides I’m doing this for the Autobots, they’ll understand right?”_

_Jazz pulled out a blank chip and started transferring both of his personalities into it. Once the information was transferred, Jazz blocked his memory off so Soundwave and Blaster couldn’t find out. He crushed one of them and placed the empty chip back just before a cough came behind him. The visored mech spun around quickly and a smile instantly grew on his face. Prowl walked over to him and his wings flicked curiously, “you okay Jazz? I’ve been calling your name.”_

_“Aw, Ah hope ya were callin’ my name out in pleasure.” Jazz said teasingly as he stepped closer to Prowl. The Praxian gave a small laugh before kissing Jazz’s visors with Jazz purring at the affection. “Ah’m okay, everythin’ is gonna be okay. Prowler, can ya say ya love meh?”_

_“I love you no matter what Jazz.” Prowl said softly as he hugged him close to his frame._

The Polyhexian walked close to the memory of Prowl and hovered a servo over his white face. He pulled his servo away with a frown, “how can Prowl say he loves me so easily? I couldn’t say it for such a long time, and he said it with such ease. No one wants to be with someone so broken.”

“Jazz, Ah can tell ya dat Prowl loves ya with so much passion dat even he doesn't even know he had. Ah didn’t need tah read his mind tah see dat, he would get so jealous of anyone dat flirted with ya.” Blaster wrapped an arm around him and put a servo on his helm. “Ah will be here with ya when yer ready, and Ah can help ya with removin’ Host codin’ and stuff.”

The black and white mech nodded before wiping his optics, a smile was on his face. “Okay. I… I think I’m ready to online now.” Blaster nodded before pulling out of Jazz’s processor and disconnected from the hard line. He looked down at Jazz and saw that tears were dried on his face plate. Jazz’s optics onlined shortly after and he had a small moment of panic before he felt Blaster rub his helm. The Polyhexian sighed heavily as he relaxed against the mech.

“We can stay like dis for as long as ya want. We go at yer pace.” Blaster said soothingly before looking at the three mechs that were suddenly looking at the duo with worry. “Dah symbiont mindset needed tah be shown of a better life. Jazz’s mind was holdin’ onto dah only thing it knew as comfort even if dat same comfort was causin’ him pain. My flier twins were in a similar situation, their original Host liked hurtin’ ‘em.”

“All those memories, and the ones with Blacklight. How did you get those?” Ironhide asked after finding his voice. He had nearly had to excuse himself when he saw the memories of Jazz being forced to interface. Jazz was still a bit disoriented and groaned before rolling over to hide his face in Blaster’s frame. Blaster started petting the mech with his EM field very calm and warm.

“Light gave meh a copy of ‘em. Said dat he wanted Jazz tah see ‘em if anythin’ happened tah him. Jazz’s emotions were confused because his personalities were fightin’ for control, but it should be better now. How ya feelin’ buddy?” The Host looked down at the mech, gently petting his horns. Jazz made a small groan, and the mech chuckled with a nod. “Trust meh it’s weird for meh tah have a Host bond with a mech my size. Ah’ll ease dah bond open for ya’ll when yer ready.”

“Blaster, is Jazz going to be okay?” Bluestreak asked the mech when Jazz rolled onto his side and wrapped his arms around Blaster’s waist.

The visored mech continued comforting Jazz with a smile on his face. “Oh, he’s fine. Like Ah said, ya’ll were focused on his mech part of him. Ah’m focusin’ on his symbiont part, and he’s testin’ out dah bond. When symbionts are hurt and are scared, they’ll switch their processor tah a more… sparklin’ like state. Grand Slam and Raindance did it when Ah rescued ‘em from their Host.” Jazz squeezed his hold around Blaster with a small whimper, and Blaster massaged his neck. “He’ll snap outta it after a bit. Hey J-man Rewind is here, is it aight if he joins dis cuddle sesh?”

_Just cuddling?_ Jazz asked through the bond and Blaster nodded with a positive vibe. The horned mech nodded after some thought, and the Cassetticon made a sound of excitement before sitting closer to the pair. He started petting Jazz’s arm, “he trusts us more than you all think. If he didn’t trust any of us, he wouldn’t let anyone touch him. Jazz didn’t know how to ask for help or tell us why he wasn’t getting better, and it didn’t help that Soundwave was being extremely hurtful. So, he crashed to protect himself and knew that we’d all help him. Right Blaster?” The smaller mech looked up at his Creator for confirmation.

Blaster nodded before Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought. “Is that why that last door had the Autobot insignia. Why did his Autobot persona not want you to look at that one door before?”

“Can’t skip tah dah end of dah story. He wanted meh tah see how it all started, Jazz’s subconscious probably blocked off his memory of his creators because of what Soundwave was feeding him. Ya mentioned seein’ mirrors Ratch’? Ah didn’t see any when Ah was in there.” Blaster said before Jazz turned his helm upwards with the other looking down. _Do ya know what Doc is talking about?_ He asked through their bond and Jazz nodded. _Can ya show meh?_ Again, Jazz nodded, but this time he closed his optics and Blaster looked at the others. “Looks like Ah’m goin’ back in.”

The mech reconnected the hardline and laid his helm back. He appeared in the dark space once again. This time when the spotlights were activated three mirrors stood there, and Jazz was standing there facing them. Blaster walked to the mech and took his servo to get his attention. “What’s in ‘em?”

The mirrors were all filled with smoke, but the first two cleared up and the two personas Jazz was appeared. The last one remained empty and Jazz stared at it, “I want to be who everyone will be proud of. I want to be this Jazz, but I don’t know if I _can_ just be him. And I don’t ever want to be who I’ve been.” He put a servo on the smoky mirror with a frown. “But I’m scared I’ll disappoint everyone all over again, I don’t know who to be.”

“All of our friends are very proud of yer progress so far Jazz, even Prime. He’s excited tah see ya at dat party, but don’t tell him Ah told ya dat.” Blaster said with a laugh, getting Jazz to give a small smile. The Host put his servos on Jazz’s shoulders and continued to smile. “Ya don’t have tah be someone else tah fit our standards Jazz, why not be a bit of both? Ah know everyone likes yer treats ya’ve been makin’.”

Jazz’s face heated with embarrassment, a door appeared in front of them and the Polyhexian went towards it before they appeared in a kitchen. Jazz was shielding his helm as an old femme was hitting him with a metal whisk. He was too old to be a youngling and too young to be an adult, and he wasn’t defending himself.

_“You idiot mech, why are you so useless?! I said get the iron powder, does this look like iron powder!? No, it’s clearly silver peroxide powder!” She continued to hit Jazz, even chasing him around the island. “Go back there and get me the slagging iron powder!”_

_Jazz grabbed the jar and left for the pantry, he grumbled and looked for the iron powder. “I would know what I’m looking for if you would tell me. Stupid glitch.” He grumbled under his breath before finding another jar. “I swear if she hits me again, I’m telling on her. Like to see her hit me then.”_

_He went back to the kitchen with the jar, and she hit him with a metal spoon and got him on the top of his horns. Jazz waited until he was leaving the kitchen to see Soundwave. He was covered in dents, and Soundwave asked what happened to him and the Polyhexian told on the old femme. “You should have listened to her instructions pet, and you wouldn’t have gotten hit.” Jazz gawked and threw an arm behind himself, but the blue mech put a servo up in the air._

_The young Polyhexian bowed his helm, “yes master.”_

“I learned to not argue with him, because it would have resulted in me getting hurt.” Jazz said with his servo rubbing his arm with a frown. Another door appeared, and Jazz backed up as he started panicking. “Out, get me out. I don’t want to see anymore.” Before Blaster could safely pull out, Jazz pushed him out and built walls in his mind. Blaster sat up with a shout and groaned from the mental shove.

The mech pressed his servo against his helm before looking at Jazz with worry. “Jazz, shh calm down. It’s okay, it’s okay shh calm down.” He rubbed his helm to calm the shivering and whimpering mech. “Primus, dat hurt.”

“Are you okay Blaster? What happened?” Ratchet moved to the two mechs and examined them both with worry. Jazz sat up quickly with his intakes deep and heavy. “Jazz, deep intakes. You’re okay now, no more hardlining. We won’t hardline anymore today.” He nodded in understanding as he tried to control his intakes. Blaster rubbed his neck to help calm him down. The Polyhexian knew what was behind that door and he didn’t want to relive that day.

 _Yer okay Jazz, deep intakes think of somethin’ dat makes ya happy._ He eased Jazz’s nerves and let him just lay against him for comfort. “Ah’m aight, just a bit dizzy from dah sudden push. Dat last door is a door he _isn’t ready_ tah look at, which is okay. Ya okay my mech? What about ya Rewind, Ah shoulda blocked ya from dah push.”

“I’m okay, barely felt it really.” Rewind had a smile on his optics before looking at Jazz with his smaller servo rubbing his arm.

“’M ‘kay. Just… scared it will happen again.” Jazz hugged Blaster’s neck with a small whimper. His shoulders were shaking as he cried into his chest, and Blaster just continued to comfort him like he would his own symbionts. _I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you._

 _Don't be, ya reacted how most do when faced with fear. Yer safe in dah bond. Bonds, when they are good and healthy, they are their tah keep ya safe and loved._ Blaster looked at Jazz before asking if he could hold him. The mech nodded and he was pulled into his lap. “Ya mechs can stop hoverin' he is fine. Let meh do what Ah'm good at, and ya go do whatever.”

“I'm staying in case anything happens. Bluestreak, you can head back home. I'll see you tomorrow.” Ratchet looked at the Praxian before back at the Polyhexian. “Jazz, I need to do a few scans on your spark. How are your buffers holding up? Any signs of your heat cycle appearing?”

Jazz shook his helm, calming himself against the EM field. _The bond is so warm. When I was bonded with him, I never felt this warm. Why would he bond with a sparkling? Isn't that dangerous?_ He asked through the bond before verbally answering the medic. “They're fine, I haven't gone into heat.”

The Praxian stood up and gave Jazz's shoulder a supportive squeeze. “I'll see you later Jazz, good job today. And thanks Blaster for coming out and helping.” _I can see you Jazz, just need to get you on your peds._ He smiled before giving his farewells to everyone else and left.

Ironhide stood up and looked at his guests. “Any of you want energon? Or some of the stash of treats the kid made?” He gave Ratchet a look which the medic meant he was taking some with him. _I'll have to take some to that council meeting._

 _Can I Blaster!?_ Rewind asked excitedly as he tried to contain his excitement. Blaster nodded with a laugh. “Can I take some home for everyone else?” The Cassetticon asked the red mech as he jumped off the couch.

“I don't care, the two of us can't eat all of them.” Ironhide answered the smaller mech before touching Jazz's helm. “What about you kid?”

Jazz nodded slowly and closed his optics. “How long until I get my visors?” The mech asked Ratchet as the medic switched on the holoscreen to a channel.

“About three Earth months.” The white and red mech answered while doing a quick scan of Jazz. He was pleased to see normal readings and no viruses in his systems. “We'll update your anti-virus software then also. I know it's not the same level as Soundwave's was, but it's done a good job so far. How's your armor fitting?”

Just as Jazz opened his mouth, the news started. “In other news, Cybertron has been going ballistic over the trial of ex-Autobot Second-in-command Jazz. The polls have been going on since early morning; Should the Council have given the mech a second chance? Let's take a look now… Wow the numbers are climbing! The polls will end tonight at the twelfth cycle. Let's see what the populace has to say.”

The Polyhexian groaned and hid his face. Ratchet quickly changed the channel. “I think that the mech should be killed, he is no better than a Decepticon! Not only was he answering to Megatron, he killed seventy percent of the old Council!” Jazz covered his helm while Ratchet quickly shut the screen off.

Blaster glared at the medic. _Thanks Doc, seriously Jazz already thinks everyone hates him._ The mech said into his mind before standing up with Jazz in his hold. “Don't listen tah ‘em Jazz. Come on we'll go somewhere quieter.”

 _I should be killed. I'm no better than a Con._ Jazz held onto Blaster as he was carried to his quarters. The Host mech turned the light on with his elbow before looking at Jazz, sending calming vibes through the bond. “Blaster, why did you all give me chance? You were trying to help me through the war, but I ignored your help. You warned me how bad Soundwave was, but I didn't listen.”

“Raindance reminded meh dat ya were just like him. His and Grand Slam's original Host was very abusive tah ‘em, and when Ah met ‘em they were in really bad shape. It took ‘em both a long while tah fully trust meh, but they eventually bounced back. Just like ya will with time. Made some jams ya might like, wanna hear?” Blaster sat the mech on the berth before going over to the window and opened the curtains to let light in. Jazz moved under his thermal blankets and shifted around with his servos going to his chest. _Ya feelin’ okay J man?_

 _I need to know Blaster. I feel it in my spark, Soundwave showed me a spark when I was sparked. I know what the tests said, but I am not crazy, I was carrying._ Jazz’s helm followed Blaster’s steps. _Please Blaster, I need to see Soundwave and ask him about it._ He heard the heavy sigh coming from the Host as he sat beside him. “Blaster, I’m crazy but I _know_ I was sparked.”

“Jazz, dah Council agrees dat it’s best ya have no contact with Soundwave. But Ah will go talk tah him about it.” The red mech said softly while petting Jazz’s helm. He saw the disappointment in his foggy optics. “It’s still weird havin’ a Host bond with someone dat ain’t a symbiont. Can Ah look into yer memories tah maybe see when exactly he formed a bond with ya?” Blaster knew that it was vital to let Jazz want to open his memory banks to him. Jazz rolled onto his front and buried his face in the pillow.

 _You can. Blaster, can I ask what this party at Optimus’s home is all about?_ The Polyhexian opened the bond to let the mech go through his memories. He felt his presence in his processor before pulling out after a while. “Dah party is tah celebrate dah end of dah war. And Ah know ya don’t plan on goin’, but Ah want ya tah come with meh and dah minis. From yer memories, it seems Wave bonded with ya when ya were a sparklin’. Creatin’ a Host bond with ya he did everythin’ right; form dah bond while young and strengthen dah connection.”

“What’s the difference between a Host bond and other bonds?” The visorless mech lifted his helm up and moved closer to the other mech. He shook his helm and whimpered as he thought of how messed up Soundwave was to spark bond with a sparkling. _No, no shut up. Shut up stupid processor, shut up!_ Blaster heard Jazz’s thoughts and he started rubbing his helm. _Safe, safe, I’m safe. This bond is safe._

 _Dat’s right J, bonds are meant tah be safe. No one is gonna hurt ya in dis bond, Ah promise ya dat._ Blaster rubbed the black and white frame gently. Jazz eventually fell into stasis; his helm was resting on the flat chest plate with his right arm draped across his midsection and his left arm covering his helm. The Host mech tapped his comlink when he realized he wasn’t going to be moving anywhere.

::Hey, Hide he went into stasis on meh.:: The mech slid upwards very slowly to not disturb the recharging mech. Jazz shifted around with a sigh, but remained in stasis.

::Alright, I’ll come rescue you.:: Ironhide said with a chuckle.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz struggles to give up Soundwave, Prowl tries to figure out how to get Jazz back, and Ironhide is just trying to keep his friend sane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all are staying safe during these times. My work is keeping me busy, so I will try to get Delta Darya updated as soon as I can. I have a few more chapters of TWOS- alt ending that I can just c/p onto here, so I hope you understand. Thank you :)

Ch. 7

Prowl was in the station looking over reports at his desk. He heard someone sitting in one of the chairs in front of him. His wings twitched and he looked up to see his sheriff sitting in front of him, and he quickly sat the datapad down and sat up straight. “Indigo Sir, I apologize for ignoring you. Was there something I can help you with?” The Praxian didn’t have the strongest connection or any friends amongst his coworkers. After the light ceremony, when Prowl returned to work the next day, his coworkers noticed the small changes in his mood.

“No problem Prowl, you were focused on a case. Some of the others were curious for the recent mood change.” Indigo got his name from his frame color and was one of the lucky Praxians to make it off Cybertron at the start of the war. He saw the small twitches in the wings of his deputy. Prowl was good with his poker face, Indigo couldn’t deny it, but his wings always called him out.

The black and white mech folded his servos on the desk with a cold expression in his optics, but he was unaware of how much his wings were betraying his front. “An old… colleague of mine is getting the help he needed after the war. My brother, Bluestreak, is helping with recovering after a bad fallout. I am just simply anxious for his recovery, which has a much higher success rate if I stay away until he’s ready. That is all sir, I do apologize for scaring the rest of the precinct.” He kept his posture and tone together, but the sheriff read the movement of Prowl’s wings.

“So, my emotionless deputy _does_ have friends. Was afraid I’d have to make your next assignment to form some. Can I ask what happened to your friend?” He asked curiously, noticing the bottom panels of Prowl’s wings flexing. He also took note of his digits curling tightly. _Clearly bad energon mixed between them_. Prowl sighed and sat back in his chair with his wings flexing behind him. “If you are okay with it of course.”

“The Decepticons fragged him up, and his processor broke. So, instead of helping him I turned my back to him. He was my partner, and partners don’t abandon partners like that.” Prowl folded his arms on the desk with a frown. “That is one-hundred percent of the reason for my recent increase of crashes and why I do not wish to take partners with me.” Prowl said with a big frown on his face, and Indigo took that as his hint that his deputy was not in the mood to talk anymore.

“Well how I see it, you can either continue to sulk about it or you could go apologize to him.” The older Praxian stood up and gave the desk a light pat. “And Prowl, don't pull a you and avoid the situation until it's too late.”

Prowl looked up with his wings flicking as he watched Indigo leave. He opened the top left drawer, pulling out the moonstone and stared at it. He rested his helm in his servos as he continued to stare at it. “Jazz, I'm so sorry for what I did. How can you ever forgive me?”

After his shift, Prowl went back home. It was a small three-bedroom home. For the Praxian it was kind of big, but his brothers liked to come visit him, so he didn't complain too much. He went to the fridge and saw a small box sitting on the shelf. The mech saw the note and realized Bluestreak must've stopped by at some point.

 _Enjoy ‘em he made them._ Prowl took it out and went to his living room before opening it up. There was highlighter yellow gel cubes, yellow stained rust sticks rolled in purple crystals, and small pale green cubes that were covered in a light dust of powdered salt. The Praxian looked at the note again before taking a small bite from the yellow cube. His wings fluttered behind him as the acidic taste hit his glossa.

“Primus this is really good.” The white and black Praxian was continuing to sample the variety of sweets while he recalled a memory.

_It was just him and Jazz laying on the top of the ARK looking up at the stars. They were holding servos while enjoying the silence. Jazz sat up quickly, getting Prowl to sit up slowly. “Ah almost forgot. Don't tell anyone, but Ah made these for ya.”_

_The Polyhexian took a small black box from his subspace and handed it to Prowl. “You didn't have to make me anything Jazz, but I appreciate the gift.” He took it, opening it to see yellow gel cubes. “Did you really make these?”_

_“Mhm, Ah… um… was taught how tah make different meals and stuff when Ah was younger. Ah clean and cook when Ah'm stressed.” Jazz laughed at himself with a wave of his servo. Prowl took one and took a bite, his wings flared at the taste. “What, do ya not like it? Ah’m sorry, Ah must've gotten dah-”_

_“It's perfect Jazz, not even the shops can get it this acidic. Thank you for these, for someone who has never experienced courting you understand how it works.” Prowl chuckled when Jazz's face heated up._

_Jazz rubbed his helm with a laugh, “Well it seemed pretty simple. Givin' each other gifts. Now Ah got another gift for ya.” He kissed Prowl’s lip with a playful nip on the lips. “Ah love ya Prowler_.”

“I love you too Jazz.” Prowl looked at the small box of snacks with a heavy sigh. He hovered a digit over his comlink, wanting to comm Ironhide to see if he could see Jazz, but as he had for the past three hundred seventy-six solar cycles, he never went through with it. The mech dropped his servo and just let himself lay on the couch with his optics staring at the gifts him and Jazz gave to each other.

Jazz was sitting in the bottom of his shower with water hitting his frame. He was holding the sides of his helm as he just onlined from a bad memory. Ironhide had heard crashing coming from Jazz’s quarters and saw him on the floor while whispering to himself. “Intakes, intakes, deep intakes Jazz. It was just a really bad dream. Soundwave ain’t here, he can’t get you. Bond is safe, Blaster promised it’s safe. No, no bond is bad it hurts. No, no shut up. Shut up processor, quit being so broken.” Jazz was hitting the sides of his helm with small shouts of pain. “I’m not tied to that fragger anymore, and I did that with my friends’ helps.”

Ironhide knocked on the door, getting the panicking Polyhexian’s attention. “You okay, or do you need me to comm Blaster?” When Blaster had left the pair, Jazz was like a sparkling who was being separated from their Carrier for the first time for school. He held onto the red mech’s arm and was trying everything he could to keep him there. Jazz had reluctantly let Blaster go on the promise of seeing him in a couple of solar cycles. The Polyhexian shook his helm and pulled himself onto his peds. Ironhide grabbed a towel that was on the floor, tossing it over his helm. “You know that if you need something to do to take your stress out on, there’s the work out equipment.”

“I know, but I would like to see what I’m doing. Without my visors, I… it always meant something bad. Whacks, whips, hard interfacing, public humiliation… that’s why my visors are so important to me.” The Polyhexian leaned against the red mech with a quiet whimper. He looked at the ground with his horns touching the flat chest with his arms hugging himself. “Hide, I… I can’t do this. I can’t function like this anymore.”

“Are you giving up already, but you’re almost done with house arrest and you are doing amazingly in your talks with Bluestreak. Why are you giving up?” Ironhide placed his servos on his shoulders. Jazz squeezed his optics shut and gripped his servos tightly.

“What life could I even have when everywhere I go, I’ll be reminded of being Soundwave’s glitch? It’s not like I have a life to go back to after all of this. Soundwave was right, I can never function as a normal mech! The only thing I’m good for is a stress reliever.” Jazz gave a startled yelp when Ironhide pushed him up against the wall, pinning his arms above his helm. “H-H-Hide what are y-you d-doing? Let m-me go,”

Ironhide knew this could go bad, but he also wanted to snap Jazz out of his current mentality. “I need you to listen to me very, _very_ closely Jazz. You can live a normal mech, you did it during the war, and you sure as pits can do it now. Everyone is going to talk, there’s always going to be talk about everything. You can either suck it up and be the confident mech we all know you are, or you can let yourself continue down this dark hole and let your final thoughts be that Soundwave won.”

Jazz stopped his struggling and listened to the mech that was holding him against the wall. He turned his helm away with a whine, “but everyone is going to talk about how much of pleasure bot I am. Or spike whore. Or whatever colorful words that they can think of. I can handle being called an Autobot traitor, but the other things I don’t want to be reminded of that.”

“Then give them something else to talk about. Show them the Autobot inside of you; the fun, loud, quirky, and caring mech that you really are. So, which is it Jazz? A chance to rub your success in Soundwave and everyone else’s faces or prove everyone that are doubting you right that the creep has a strong hold on you?” Ironhide jabbed a digit into Jazz’s chest. The Polyhexian clenched his fists and the red mech released the smaller mech.

“I…I want to live Hide. I _want_ to be confident again.” He felt Ironhide release him and he felt him pat his face. “Gee Hide, I am _so_ glad that you are getting a kick out of scaring me to death.” The Polyhexian dried himself off before hugging the mech with a smile on his face.

“Oh, and I see your sense of humor is coming back.” Ironhide said jokingly and led him out of the shower. Jazz felt his way to his berth before flopping onto it with a heavy sigh. The mech shook his shoulder with a friendly pat on the back. “See you are strong, you good? I have to deal with some council stuff, which takes an entire solar cycle to deal with things.”

Jazz nodded with a small yawn. “Don’t be surprised if… ya come back to a… spotless home.” He drifted into stasis with an arm covering his face with his engines purring softly. Ironhide shook his helm with a chuckle before leaving to head to the council hall. The red mech left unaware of the Praxian that was waiting for him to leave. When he was gone, the Praxian transformed and walked up to the steps with his closed servo hovering over the door. He touched the door lightly before transforming and drove off to Praxus.

Ironhide was sitting in the council room discussing matters about many topics that bored his processor. He sat up straighter when he watched a holodisk being tossed into the center of the large table. A large hologram appeared of news articles of a certain Polyhexian. “Ah, really Hot Rod? Come on, leave the kid alone.” He pressed a button in front of him, shutting the hologram off. The red and yellow mech pressed the button in front of him, crossing his arms.

“We need to talk about this, Ironhide! He is everywhere and the people are questioning our decision of saving this mech’s life! He killed countless Primes, killed fellow Autobots, and for what? To please his _Decepticon_ master.” Hot Rod stabbed his digit into the table. “He never cared about our beliefs, and how do any of you know he is wanting to turn over a new leaf? His track record clearly showed that he would do _anything_ to see Soundwave and the Decepticons win. What if he is just wanting to get freedom just long enough to break every Decepticon out of Newgate?”

The red mech shut the hologram off and glared at the younger mech. “You don’t know Jazz like any of us, punk. Sure, he has done a _very_ bad thing, but he wants to have a fresh start. He wants to be free of Soundwave and the life he was forced to live. That kid is more exposed and genuine with his emotions than anyone I have ever known. And if Black light was here, he would make sure that his son was getting any chance of help he deserves.” He jammed two digits into the table.

“And look where it got him!? He killed his Sire-” Hot Rod was interrupted by Blaster rubbing his helm with winces of pain. “What?”

“Nothin’ Jazz just hasn’t mastered usin’ walls when in stasis. His mind is very loud, and very focused… on a certain workaholic Praxian and some things Ah didn’t wanna know about. Ew wall, wall yup puttin’ up a wall.” The mech shivered with a small gag. “And Hide’s right, Jazz ain’t gonna go back tah Wave. And Jazz didn’t kill Black, he stayed tah revive him without knowin’ dat he was his Sire. Cool yer turbo Hot Rod and try tah see dat J was more of a weapon and victim than anythin’.”

The mech crossed his arms and looked at the others at the table. Bluestreak spoke to stop Hot Rod from speaking. “Before you say anything Hot Rod, you never worked alongside him. I’ve seen his thoughts and memories, thanks to Blaster’s hardline, and he had many moments of wanting what we had. What we all had; freedom. And can I just therapist talk to you? Why does an actual Decepticon, like Drift, who you are currently courting get a chance of a better future? But a mech who sacrificed his freedom to see our cause succeed, doesn’t?” Bluestreak leaned forward with his wings holding up high. “Is it perhaps you’re just a bit too personally involved in this as the rest of us? You’ve heard stories of how the Autobots defeated Megatron, and when you learned that it was a mech we had in the deepest hole at Newgate it angered you. He took your Sire, Sentinel Prime, and you force yourself to see only what Soundwave created. You don’t truly emotionally care about what Jazz has done, but rather what he has done to your family.”

“Stay out of my processor shrink.” Hot Rod crossed his arms with his helm turning away. “He is as much of a monster as Soundwave.”

“I’m not in your processor, just proving my point. You see only the bad to which Jazz was ordered to do, but you won’t let yourself see the good he has done for our cause.” Bluestreak said with a flick of his wings. “Sure, I’m furious for what he did to Prowl, but they have brought things out of each other they can’t do without each other. Now, yes, I suggested the two stay apart until Jazz’s house arrest is up, but that is because Jazz’s mind subconsciously accepts any orders his dominant lover gives or what he believes would make them happy. And it has been shown from my personal observation and just public affection, Jazz will do _anything_ for Prowl’s happiness and approval.”

Ultra Magnus nodded in understanding, “and from his trial it’s not hard to see that Jazz cares deeply for Prowl. Though, how can we be certain that he really wants to start a new life? He also has expressed his anger towards him, how are you so sure that Jazz would _ever_ want Prowl in his life?” He wasn’t going to show that he favored either side.

Blaster leaned forward with the cable exposed from his wrist. Optimus nodded at the silent request, and Blaster connected the cable to his side of the table. “Hey J-man, what makes ya happy?” There was darkness before a door with an Autobot insignia appeared in a spotlight. It opened to show a memory that was on top of the ARK where Jazz and Prowl always went to.

_Jazz and Prowl were laying in each other's arms. The Polyhexian pushed himself onto his arms with a smile on his face. “Say it again Prowler, please? It makes my spark warm tah hear ya say it, and Ah know dat with dis sparklin' inside meh our new life will be perfect.”_

_Prowl chuckled as he sat up with a servo gently wrapping around the side of Jazz's helm. “You, Jazz, are my seventy percent. And I promise that when we win this war, I will give you and that sparkling a life you never gotten. I will be with you every step of the way, to get you through your moments of doubts and protect you from getting hurt ever again. And I look forward to calling you my sparkmate one day.”_

“Jazz, Jazz it's okay it's just meh.” Blaster stepped out of the memory just before it was slammed shut, and the Autobot side of Jazz stepped in front of it protectively. “Dah bond is safe remember? Ah ain't Soundwave, Ah ain't here tah mess with yer memories. Just convince some friends yer wantin' tah be helped.”

His stance relaxed slightly, and he pushed open the door again. “Blaster, only way Ah can get helped is when Ah see Soundwave's spark crushed in my servo. He destroyed meh, Ah am dah real personality! But he destroyed meh with dat… dat pathetic mech everyone sees! Dat second personality chip wasn't meh, it was dat more submissive idiot dat believed he was dah center of dah universe. But he has everyone includin’ my consciousness believin' dat Ah am dah secondary.”

“He switched dah chips out when ya were young. So, dat we would only see what he wanted. But how are ya so acutely aware? It's like yer a whole other mech.” Blaster asked as Jazz stepped aside to let him look. And he walked through it.

_“Black, what is that? What did you find?” A femme, Jazz's Carrier, looked at Black light when he found a black box with a chip inside it. They didn't notice Jazz looking through the cracked door._

_“A personality chip, but where did it come from?” Black light continued to look at it before Jazz revealed himself._

_“Jazz?” His Carrier covered her mouth, immediately recognizing her creation._

The Host stepped out and saw Jazz changing the scenery to the ARK. “Ya saw yer creators talkin’ about it, and ya closed dat memory off because it came from inside dat box ya were always told tah never open. Why dah scenery change?”

“It was a new start, my fresh start tah observe and grow. When Ah was placed back inside my body, Ah did a bit of tweakin’ when Sire deactivated. Ah blocked Soundwave from my processor and used my original personality chip as a sort of failsafe and back up for any memories at risk of bein’ erased.” He tapped his ped to show a million doors with the same Autobot insignia on the front of them. “A new start for my… for meh and Prowl.”

He looked around and then back at Jazz. “Dat's why yer still usin' slang and look like ya did durin' dah war. Ya found out Wave was gonna erase dah war, so ya created a plan tah counter it. And why ya merged yer personalities, because it would mean Soundwave would have tah erase everythin’ even himself from yer mind.”

“Exactly! But my plan didn't go accordin’ tah plan. No thanks tah Prowler reactin' dah way he did, but Ah can't blame him Ah should've made him aware of my plan tah begin with. And now, Ah'm stuck in dis sort of emotional battle and blind. And alone! Shut up, shut up ya slaggin' glitch.” He started smacking his servo against the side of his helm. The scenery started fading glitching, and Blaster quickly held onto him. “Find… ‘em.”

“Plan? What plan?” Blaster asked with hurry. A door was opening up slowly before Jazz shook his helm and was glitching away. The Host mech was thrown out of his processor. He was caught by Ratchet and Elita-One. “Jazz onlined, Ah'm okay.”

“So, that explains why Jazz blames Prowl. He told Prowl something before he went to Prime. And that also explains why Jazz has so many blocked memories, his emotional rollercoaster, and why he hasn't pushed his luck like Drift did. His two quarreling personalities are fighting for control, and his original personality chip is trying to regain control by leaving us clues.” Ratchet tapped his digit before getting excited at something. “That glyph he was drawing out, what if it was a clue but it was being drawn backwards?”

Bluestreak pulled up a holovid of it, and he quickly recognized it when it was flipped. “That glyph, it's what Ops used when we're compromised. Like a mission is failing. It's a combination of Praxian, Polyhexian, and ancient Prime glyphs. Jazz made it, so that we could communicate with each other without anyone else knowing.”

“Failing? What mission?” Hot Rod asked after a long moment of silence.

“The fight Jazz's failsafe has been going through. He has been fighting the secondary personality for control over Jazz, but he clearly has only been showing the submissive personality. He also knew that Soundwave was going to erase him from existence, so he created himself for us to obviously find.” Ultra Magnus leaned forward with his servos folded on the table.

Optimus rubbed his face mask in thought. “That memory, the one of when he came to me, he gave you something to give to Prowl. Didn't he, Bluestreak? Did you read was on it?” He looked at the therapist, who shook his helm. “We need to know what was on that datapad. I have failed my friend before, I am not failing him again without a fight.”

“But Optimus, ya need tah understand Jazz's consciousness doesn’t know about any of dis. None of it, not even dat he has a failsafe. Only way we can find out is if Ah go back into his mind or if we get dah datapad from Prowl.” Blaster said with concern for his friend. “He may not be a symbiont, but my programmin' still functions dah same. Ah protect my family, and Jazz is my family.”

“And we'll respect that my friend, but we may not need to go back in there. Bluestreak, do you think you can get ahold of that datapad?” The Prime asked the Praxian, and he nodded before tapping his digit against his chin as he looked very thoughtful. “What is it Bluestreak?”

“Mm, I'm just thinking back to the last time we were in Jazz's mind. He had two personalities manifested in his processor. Where was the other one this time? And his failsafe mentioned a glitch right before Blaster was thrown out, is his systems trying to purge the secondary personality? And Prowl never mentioned a plan even when he tried to see Jazz.” The Praxian tapped his digits against the table.

After the meeting, Ironhide had returned home and saw a box on his porch. He picked it up and saw that it had Jazz's glyphs on it. The mech thought it was weird and looked inside to see what it could possibly be. Inside he saw a purple geode, and a stone cut into a glyph. He peeked into the kitchen and saw Jazz was cleaning some dishes while humming to himself.

The mech carried them to his quarters and commed Bluestreak. ::Hey, I think your brother tried to visit Jazz. Found a couple rocks.::

::Rocks? I'll have a chat with Prowl.:: Bluestreak sighed and his tone was very annoyed. He specifically told his brother to stay away from Jazz until he was ready.

The red mech sat the box on his nightstand. ::Alright.:: Ironhide collapsed onto his berth with his spark heavy. ::Hey, you know what I've been wondering? What did Jazz mean by ‘find ‘em?::

::I'm not sure, we'll have to let either Blaster find out or find the datapad.:: Bluestreak reminded before cutting out.

Jazz was laying in the middle of his berth with his limbs spread out. He closed his optics and tried to picture the stars on Earth, and the big blue star that he used to get home. _Our big blue star. My big blue star to find you. Prowl why did you lie to me?_

 _J, do ya need meh tah come over?_ Blaster could feel the sadness through the bond and entered his processor slowly as to avoid scaring him. He felt Jazz hold onto the bond as he calmed himself. The mech was trying to put his creations down for stasis when he felt Jazz open his side of the bond.

 _No, no you don't have too. I just… am afraid. Blue says that Prowl is waiting to see me, and he doesn't hate me, but… why hasn't he tried comming or sending me messages? What if he only wants to see me just to… hurt me?_ Jazz asked questions with worry. He rolled onto his front with a small yawn.

 _Jazz, focus on recoverin’ before worryin’ about Prowl. If ya need meh tah come let meh know._ The Host mech reminded him, feeling him relax even more through the bond. He could feel Jazz fall into stasis. The Polyhexian was curled up in the middle of the berth deep in stasis, unaware that he wasn’t alone. Ironhide was walking past Jazz’s room to go get some energon, and heard soft music playing inside.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ironhide becomes worried now that he realizes someone is sneaking into Jazz's room. Optimus offers Jazz a job, which freaks him out.

Ch. 8

“Jazz. Jazz! Ja-” Ironhide was trying to find the Polyhexian with Optimus following behind him. “He’s usually around here somewhere.” He opened Jazz’s door, about to call out his name before stopping to see the mech still in stasis with his face nuzzling into a pillow. The recharging mech was mumbling in his recharge.

“Hide… no… no stay away. No. No. No!” Jazz sat up quickly while he was venting heavily. He groaned as a servo went to his helm, unaware of the two mechs that were standing in his room with worry by his sudden onlining. The Polyhexian groaned and laid back down with the blanket going over him.

Ironhide gave a gruff cough to make at least his presence known. “Someone wanted to come see how you were doing.”

“Hello Jazz.” Optimus said and saw the mech under the thermal blanket go stiff. “Don’t worry, I come in peace. I wanted to personally thank you for making all of the treats that Ironhide keeps bringing us.” The two mechs watched Jazz move around before sitting up with the blanket falling away from his face. The Polyhexian was clearly uncomfortable, but he tried to not show it.

“Hi Optimus, um… sorry about last time. I was…caught off guard.” The black and white mech apologized before looking puzzled. “You didn’t hear music last night did you, Hide?”

 _That wasn’t Jazz? I’ll have to install some security and hold off on telling him._ Ironhide kept his voice calm. “Nope, didn’t hear anything. Why don’t we take the conversation to the living room?” _I swear if this is Prowl, I’m going to tell Bluestreak to tie him up._ Jazz nodded and got out the berth before stopping and tilted his helm with a frown. He shook his helm and followed the two to the living room, and they all sat in an uncomfortable silence and Ironhide cleared his voice box. “I’m going to go get us some energon.”

Jazz gave the red mech a death glare before rubbing at the anklet with a small frown. _Maybe twenty years in isolation really has fragged me in the helm. Ironhide hasn’t heard it, and it’s only during the night._ Optimus was looking at his old friend as he rubbed the thick metal. He looked a lot better than his last visit and was more or less okay with his presence. “So, Jazz, I’ve been wondering if you've figured out what to do as your community service have you?”

“No, I haven’t.” The blind mech glanced in the Prime’s direction suspiciously. He shifted around uncomfortably, his imagination going into the dark zone, and triggered his anklet. Jazz tensed with a pained groan before it finally stopped after he forced himself to think about a happier memory. “Why?”

 _Does he still believe I’ll treat him badly?_ Optimus didn’t know much, but what Blaster said during one meeting, Jazz feared being in a room alone with him. And the Prime wanted to show the Polyhexian that he wasn’t going to hurt him. “Well I figured I’d have you help me. That way you serve your time, earn some credits, and get in good graces of the planet.”

Jazz sat up straight with a baffled look on his face, and he gave a stressed laugh. “You’re more insane than I am Optimus, if you think that is a good idea. I can just see the headlines of all the news reports ‘Prime’s new secretary is a pleasure bot.’ or ‘Decepticon frag toy moving up in the world as a Prime’s office toy.’ I don’t want to ruin the reputation of the Council or you anymore than I have already.”

“Jazz, you haven’t ruined anything. Just give it some thought.” The Prime said as Ironhide returned with three cubes of energon. “Are you excited to have your house arrest end, and getting your visors back? I bet you’re anxious to get outside.”

The black and white mech shrugged as he felt Ironhide hand him his cube. “Anxious? No, freaked out of my fragging mind would be more accurate. I am excited to be able to see again, but also nervous.” He lifted the energon to his face before stopping and sniffed it. “Uh… Hide did you give me the wrong cube?”

“I figured you’ve done a really good job through this whole thing, that one cube won’t hurt.” Ironhide handed Optimus one of the other cubes in his servo beside sitting down beside Jazz, drinking the cube casually. “And I agree with the kid Prime, is it really a smart idea to have him work for you? The people are already stirred up by our decision on this. And the news has been non-stop… and this isn’t helping, sorry kid.”

The red mech had stopped talking when he saw Jazz shrinking down with the cube covering his face. “I know what they say about me. I listen to the news when you’re at work, they have very creative words for me. Little do they know all of Kaon beat them to the punchline.” Jazz sat the cube on the table and leaned against the arm of the couch.

“Don’t listen to them Jazz.” Ironhide said as he looked at the mech while he touched the different glyphs on his arms. He smacked his servo away, “Jazz stop it.”

The mech held up his servos with his helm turning up at the ceiling. “I didn’t do anythin’. And you told me no high grade, so Imma go get some normal grade.” He quickly stood and marched into the kitchen before sliding down the wall behind him. His legs were pulled to his chest as he hid his face in his knees. “I can’t go to the party; everyone is going to hate me.”

Jazz pressed his back against a wall in the kitchen and sighed heavily in self disappointment. Optimus sighed and rubbed his helm, “where did everything go so wrong? Jazz used to be so open and happy around us, and now he’s terrified of us.”

“Well it’s mostly my fault, you told me and the twins to wait and we brutally restrained him. And he sat in a cell for a long time, so it’s gonna take a while for him to be okay with us all again. Don’t worry he’ll come to the party and relax a bit more when he sees that all parties are trying to fix this.” Ironhide pat his friend on the arm before drinking his energon. “Wonder if Jazz will join us all drinking and partying?”

Jazz returned with half a cube of normal grade energon, sitting uncomfortably back where he was before. He rubbed his digits on the side of the cube nervously. “How are you two so confident that anyone is going to be happy to see me? How is Blue so sure that Prowl is wanting to see me? How can you all be so sure that I’m going to be better? I have this feeling of needing to go with this, not because of Prowl not entirely, but he’s a big part of it. But… but there’s this… this block when I try to think of why.” The Polyhexian gestured at his helm with frustration. “And it’s so infuriating when I try to access the memory!”

The mech gripped the cube tightly in anger with his engine rumbling. Ironhide grabbed Jazz’s wrist to get him to calm down. “We’re confident because it’s true, I’ve been asked by some of our old teammates how you were doing. Don’t force yourself to remember, if you’re unable to access a memory it’s maybe because you’re afraid to look at it.”

“Oh, great I got two shrinks now.” Jazz chuckled before drinking from the cube slowly. “I don’t know, I just this feeling… almost like when I was sparked. You all say it wasn’t real, but I _know_ it was real. Soundwave showed me a sparkling, but I don’t know it could have been faked to keep me under his control. It just feels like it’s so important.”

Optimus sighed and hesitantly placed a servo on Jazz’s arm, seeing the small flinch when they made contact. “Don’t push yourself Jazz, it’s okay. How’s the bond with Blaster, have you seen his Cassettes besides Eject?”

Jazz shook his helm with a small frown. “The bond’s fine, but I haven’t opened to more than Blaster. I can feel them, but they can’t feel me, and that’s where I’m okay at. My panics and nightmares haven’t been so bad, when I start freaking out Blaster is right there with the bond for me to hold onto.” Jazz lifted his legs up to his chest and held onto the cube with a smile grazing his lips. “And it’s nice and comfortable to have that feeling. Not having a bond or someone almost constantly in your mind, is so mind boggling to me, but I know it’s going to have to stop.”

“Aw, don’t worry about the future kid.” Ironhide to say encouragingly.

“This is my future Hide! Worrying if I’m doing good, worried what I do wrong, thinking what I could possibly do wrong next to frag my life up! Instead of raising sparklings and worrying about them, I’m worrying if I’m sane enough to survive the public again! I’m already worrying to the point that I think I’m going to be swarmed by random mechs and femmes and provoked to attack so my aft gets sent back to Newgate! Frag it I’m still onlining from stasis thinking I’m still bonded to Soundwave, and I strangle the bond with Blaster! I don’t want to keep living like this, I can’t all because I’m an idiot who believed in love.”

Jazz jumped over the couch and stormed to his quarters in anger. He was sitting on the back of his berth with his helm resting against the wall. The Polyhexian tilted his helm down with his servos covering his face. His shoulders were shaking as he broke down again, but instead of holding onto the bond for comfort he closed himself off. Ironhide rubbed his helm with a heavy sigh. “Primus, really wish Black light was here to help.”

“I know my friend, but I don’t know if even he would be able to help us. Jazz is just very emotional right now, so he isn’t going to listen until he’s ready.” Optimus tried to be sympathetic for his friend. The two talked for a while until Optimus noticed Jazz peeking around the corner with a guilty look in his optics. “Jazz, you don’t need to hide from us.”

“I ain’t hiding, just… listening from a safe distance.” Jazz stepped out from behind the wall with his arms hugging himself. He leaned against the door frame with a frame. “If… hypothetically I accept your offer, what would it intel?” _Just because you think it’s a good idea, doesn’t mean I think it is._ Jazz quipped through the bond.

 _It’ll be good for ya Jazz. It’ll give ya and Prime a chance tah rekindle yer friendship, not tah mention yer gonna most likely end up in dah same location as meh and dah minis._ Blaster said with confidence. Optimus started explaining all of the details. “Well it’ll start out small, so just running datapads around for me and taking messages for me when I can’t. And then in time we’ll see where it takes us.”

 _Desk work, I hate desk work. This is torture to hear already._ Jazz mentally whined before looking away. “Nothing… physical? No touching for long periods of time? Because I never liked desk work for several reasons, and most of it is prewar stuff. Actually… a lot of it is prewar stuff, a lot of my fears is prewar fraggery. I’ll think about it Optimus, but I can’t promise anything.”

“And that’s all I can ask for.” Optimus said with a smile behind his mouthguard.

 _Today’s the day, I can do it, just give Blue the datapad._ Jazz had spent the two final days of his house arrest making a letter for Prowl. He was nervously sitting across from Bluestreak with the datapad in his servos. Jazz’s knee was bouncing anxiously as he tried to calm his nerves. The Polyhexian extended the datapad out to the silent Praxian. “I… Can you give this to Prowl? I thought about what we talked about last time, and I wasn’t ready to face the idea of talking to Prowl.”

“And you believe that you’re ready to face and talk to Prowl? How’s the bond going with Blaster? Anything you feel like talking about? Ironhide hasn’t reported anymore major panic attacks or crashes.” Bluestreak took the datapad while he asked his questions. Jazz shifted in his spot, nervous about something. “Jazz?”

“I am going insane! I keep having… exciting memory lapses and I keep onlining frustrated. But other than that, I’m okay. Blaster has been really helpful when I do have panics, but I’m not sure about opening it to the minis. How is Prowl? He hasn’t had any more crashes because of me, has he?”

Bluestreak shook his helm and subspaced the datapad while taking down notes. “Well you can talk to Ratchet about that at your appointment. I’ll let Ratchet know that I’m comfortable with letting your interface array activate. I’m glad that you’re at least okay with Blaster and the bond. And Prowl is doing as good as Prowl can do. He has had a few of work-related glitches, but they were minor. Anything else happen or want to talk about?” The Praxian flicked his wings as he felt the EM field, sensing how calm Jazz was.

“I…I… I want to access memories, but I don’t want to do it alone. Can we access it now or is it something that requires Blaster or Ratchet?” The blind mech rubbed his servos with curiosity pulsing from his EM field and in his face. Bluestreak hummed in thought before answering the patiently waiting mech.

“Will you be able to handle doing it without Blaster with you?” It was obvious that Bluestreak wasn't entirely into the idea of letting Jazz access memories without someone to help him if something were to happen.

The Polyhexian nervously messed with his digits. _I can do it without Blaster and Ratchet. I need to do this by myself, show them I'm getting better._ He sat up confidently and nodded with equal confidence. “I can do it Blue.”

“Okay, I'm going to need to establish a hardline connection in order to see it. Are you okay with that?” Bluestreak asked and Jazz's confidence cracked slightly before he nodded again. The mech sat beside the other mech and established the hardline.

Jazz and Bluestreak stood in Halifax’s old shop. They looked around before Jazz stopped and grabbed the Praxian’s servo, causing him to jump slightly. Bluestreak saw an old bomb that had its insides removed and there was a medical drone hovering over it.

“Jazz, what's in the bomb?” Bluestreak asked as the mech shook slightly. He wasn’t letting go of the mech's servo or moving for that matter.

“Can't be here, not yet. Can't access it without him. Get out.” Jazz stepped back as his Autobot persona jumped down from the ceiling. He pushed them further away and a door appeared. The door was shutting just as the failsafe was humming into the bomb.

The two mechs were brought out of the hardline. Bluestreak quickly sat up to look at Jazz. He saw the tears sliding down his face as he sat up shaking. “Jazz, what was in that bomb? Where did that drone come from?”

“I-I don't know. The drone looked like a medical drone from the war, before we left Cybertron. Why were we in Halifax’s shop? I _need_ to know.” Jazz felt oddly protective of the memory, but he didn't know why. He wanted someone to see that memory, but not Bluestreak. “Why can't I just access _this memory_!? Blue, I can access every other memory, but this one I can’t look at.”

The steel blue mech placed a servo on his knee, “Jazz don’t force yourself to remember anything. It will only hurt you if you do. Well maybe you can go visit Halifax’s-”

Jazz gasped in pure disbelief and started rapidly shaking his helm. “I am not going to Kaon. Not for anything. No chance, I refuse to go back there for anything!” He leaned forward with his helm resting in his servos. “If I ever had to go into _that_ city again, I had better be dying.” The Polyhexian sighed heavily before leaning against his friend.

“It’s okay Jazz, we are all here to support you. So, when is your appointment with Ratchet and Preceptor?” Bluestreak asked curiously while he massaged the mech’s helm.

“When Ironhide gets back from work tomorrow. Blue, could you um… could you be there when I get my visors again?” Jazz asked curiously.

The Praxian nodded, “should be able to. I’ll have to check my schedule. I look forward to _seeing_ you with your visors again.” He teasingly said and Jazz laughed behind his servo.

The next day came and Jazz was nervously following Ironhide to the hospital. He heard whispering from staff and patients, many of them were questioning his presence while others were using slang words as they passed. Ironhide held onto the Polyhexian’s arm when he felt his EM field flare up in fear. “Ignore them Jazz, you got this.” The mech watched as Jazz was holding onto his friend as he started doing small heavy intakes. “Jazz, do you want me to comm someone?”

“Why couldn’t we have done it at the house? It’s not like it requires anything major.” Jazz spoke softly and his fear was increasing as they started turning down halls. He could hear Ratchet getting into a disagreement with someone. He shook his helm and came to a complete halt, making Ironhide stop and stand with him. “I just… I just need a klik.”

Ironhide sighed, “alright Jazz.” He folded his arms and leaned against the wall while Jazz was rubbing the back of his neck. _Still a bad habit. Is he using the bond?_ The mech wondered until the multicolored mech gave a deep intake, and then nodded that he was okay to go. Jazz followed him further down the hall until they entered the room. “-And I'm the head medic of this hospital. The prescription I tell you to take is what you take, if you have a problem with it then don’t take it. Now if you excuse me, I have an actual patient to see.”

Ratchet was scolding an unruly patient that had barged into the examination room. Jazz heard her gawk and stomp off after she realized she was just talked down to. Ironhide shook his helm with a laugh. “See you haven't lost your bedside manners Ratchet. Preceptor, Wheeljack.” He nodded at the two mechs that were looming over something on the counter near the repair berth.

“Greetings.” Preceptor said in a friendly manner. Jazz froze and grabbed onto Ironhide's arm tightly. He was starting to panic again and was tightening his grip that the mech was starting to complain. “It's good to see you again Jazz, we have your visors ready for you.”

“Kid, you're going to break my arm.” Ironhide continued to complain while trying to remove Jazz's servos. The Polyhexian squeezed his optics tightly and turned his helm away. He pulled his servos away before covering his receptors. “Jazz, you're okay. Don't you dare crash on us now, you've been doing good for such a long time.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up. It's okay Jazz, you're okay. He isn't here. He isn't here. You're okay.” Jazz verbally reminded himself while he held onto the bond. Blaster was there to help him and told Jazz he would be there for him if he needed him. _The bond is safe._

“Spark jolts returning to normal, intakes normal. Good job Jazz. You pulled yourself away from having a spark attack.” Ratchet was scanning the mech that was calming down. Jazz slowly opened his optics, calming down some more before removing his servos from his helm.

“Jazz, we aren't gonna hurt you.” Wheeljack reminded as he picked up the two black discs that were on the counter behind him and Preceptor. “You okay for us to start?”

The mech nodded nervously and had Ratchet help him onto the medical berth. Ironhide sat in one of the chairs in the corner while the three mechs were starting. Jazz restrained himself from shivering from the cool metal pressing on the sides of his helm. The discs, like his old pair, drilled very tiny holes into his helm and connected itself to his processor. There was a moment of silence before a thin bright blue strip of glass shot from left to right.

The visors flickered slightly as pixels started form inside Jazz's processor. The picture started to clear up and began playing in real time. Jazz looked down at his servo and gasped when he realized he was seeing his servo. He looked up quickly with his servo covering his mouth. The mech was looking at everyone in the room, and they had smiles on their faces when they saw the reaction.

“I…I… my sight. I can see again.” Jazz said before launching himself at Ratchet, hugging him tightly as he started crying. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

Ratchet chuckled at the severe reaction Jaz had. He started patting his back before deciding to just drop the tough medic act for a bit and return the hug. “You're welcome Jazz. Is everything running smoothly? No lag?”

Jazz shook his helm before pulling away and then hugged the two scientists. He wiped away any traces of him crying. “No lag. Running smoothly. You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you so, so, so much. Especially you Hide, thank you for everything.” He quickly hugged the red mech with his EM field exploding with joy.

Ironhide hugged Jazz back, “I told you kid all smiles.”

Ratchet placed a servo on Jazz’s shoulder, getting his attention. “Come on, we’re going unlock your t-cog. Thank you Wheeljack, Preceptor. I’ll see you at home Wheeljack, see you at the party Preceptor.” The two mechs nodded before leaving the them. Jazz got back onto the berth, and Ratchet started hooking up a machine onto the mech’s chest. “So, Bluestreak commed me the other day that you wanted to have your interface array unlocked? Are you sure that you’re ready for that?”

“I’m not doing it for a relationship, I’m doing it, so I don’t go crazy. I’m not ready to interface with _anyone_.” Jazz shook his helm, feeling and seeing Ratchet mess with his systems. He was feeling things unlock inside of his systems. The mech shifted around uncomfortably as he started dabbling in the bond. _Blaster, are you okay?_

 _Ah’m fine Jazz, Eject and Rewind got a bit of a fumble. They’re fine though._ Blaster said with amusement. _They are always playin’ a bit rough, thanks tah Eject’s love for Earth football. Are ya okay J?_

 _I’m okay, maybe good now that I can see. I umm… I made more sweets and maybe I bring the minis some at the party?_ The Polyhexian smiled while he stared up at the ceiling. His EM field was still pulsing excitedly from his sight being returned to him.

 _Sure, dah minis would love dat. Sorry Ah couldn’t be there when ya got yer visors, but Ah’m backed up here at work._ Blaster said apologetically.

 _No, it’s okay. I understand._ Jazz turned his helm to face Ratchet. “Ratch’ are you turning on my heat cycle coding also?”

“Well of course, it’s designed to relegate your valve fluids. The extra fluids and increase of minerals in your CNA and energon help make movement in the pelvic plating smoother.” Ratchet explained with slight confusion in his tone. “You’ve had heat cycles before.”

The now visored mech looked slightly uneasy, “well yeah but not regularly. It was controlled by Soundwave, like my other systems. He would start it when he wanted to bring in mecha-animals and large… items. And then shut it off for the rest of it.” He shifted uncomfortably as he looked away with embarrassment. Jazz looked down at Ironhide quizzically, “I don't care what happens to him, but what about his minis?”

“Magnus ordered me to explicitly not tell you about Soundwave.” Ironhide said firmly while Ratchet was silently finishing up.

The mech on the table understood why, and he wasn't going to argue about it with Ironhide. Out in the hall, Prowl was escorting a hit and runner to an examination room with a nurse. “Come on deputy, it was an accident!”

“If you truly believed that then you would not have run.” Prowl said while following the gurney that had the mech laying on it. The mech was cuffed to the railing and was pulling on it. “Now lower your voice or I'll have the nurse shut your voice box off.”

Jazz sat up quickly when he heard the familiar voice. “P-Prowl? He… He's here?”

“Ironhide?” Ratchet looked at his friend who nodded and left the two alone. The medic tried to calm the mech down. “Jazz, it's okay. He doesn't know you're here. He is probably escorting a convict here for examination before taking him to the jail.”

Ironhide saw the Praxian and jogged up beside him. “Prowl, what are you doing here?”

“Escorting a hit and run suspect before taking him to Praxus county jail. What are you doing here Ironhide?” Prowl returned the question as they stopped outside the room. The mech started egging the nurse on, and Prowl looked over his shoulder. “Quiet Drawback or I will start reciting the entire law book to you.”

That quickly shut the mech up and Ironhide snickered slightly. “Just here to see Ratchet. Why didn't you take him to the hospital in Praxus?”

“I was chasing him from Praxus all the way to Iacon. I finally caught up to after he crashed into a building. Iacon General was closer.” Prowl explained before comm chatter distracted the mech. “10-4. How is he?”

“Kid is doing fine. And before you ask, no you can't see him right now. Just be sure to be at that party if you want to see him yourself.” Ironhide suggested strongly.

“I'm glad that he is doing good. Bluestreak has unfortunately locked me out of his files, and he refuses to tell me much. I don't like to admit when I'm wrong, but I really fragged up all those years ago.” Prowl sighed sadly with his wings twitching slightly. “Is he in danger of Soundwave still?”

“No, Blaster helped him with breaking the bond. I have to get back to Ratchet, but good luck with this punk.” Ironhide gave his goodbyes before returning to Jazz. “You okay kid?”

Jazz was sitting upright and nodded with his shoulders sagged. “I just want to go home.”

“Alright, let's go. Hey Ratch' put it on my tab.” Ironhide jokingly said before taking Jazz out of the hospital. Jazz looked around with his mouth dropping slightly; he was spinning around with amazement. All of the colors, buildings, and roads that were weaving above them was enough to get Jazz to perk up again.

“Wow this is amazing! There's so many colors and shapes!” Jazz was like a sparkling having their spark day. He stopped turning to face the red mech. “Hide, thanks for giving me another chance. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be redeemable, and I would be left down there to rust. And I know it took me a while to see that you were all wanting to help me. Just thank you so much for giving me my sight back, it means so much to me.”

“Now I don’t need any mushy stuff. Come on, you ready to drive home for once?” Ironhide asked with a chuckle, and Jazz nodded with excitement. The red mech told the multicolored mech to follow his lead. Ironhide stepped into a boxed off area before transforming and waited for Jazz; the visored mech stepped behind Ironhide and followed his lead. The red mech explained some of the simple rules of the road while they drove home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing more than Prowl is an idiot.

Ch. 9

 _How did I even get here? My chest plate is tightening, and my spark is racing. Blaster, I need you._ Jazz was standing outside the plaza where the party was happening; it had been several solar cycles since Jazz had gotten his vision. There were hundreds of bots chatting and enjoying the celebration. Jazz was on the very outskirts of the plaza and was hiding in the shadows while observing everything going on. He saw a lot of his old comrades, but he was absolutely terrified and didn’t want to leave his small area.

Blaster had been talking to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe while trying to keep Eject and Rewind under control. He looked up and saw Jazz leaning against a statue base with his helm bent down. “Hey, Imma be back.” The mech sat the two excited Cassetticons on the ground and went over to the nervous Polyhexian. “Jazz, are ya okay? Ya know everyone is wantin’ tah see ya?”

“I can’t move, my servos are shaking.” The mech looked over his shoulder to see that Smokescreen and Bluestreak arrived. Jazz turned back to face Blaster and his intakes grew harder. “No, no, no, no I can’t do it Blaster.”

The Host mech grabbed his arm and had him focus on the bond. “J calm down, yer okay. Want tah help meh keep these rascals under control? Ah think Ah saw Raj and dah rest of Ops roamin' around dah perimeter.”

Before Jazz could say anything Rewind jumped into his frame, and he quickly caught him. “I guess I can. So, Council member huh?” He stood straight with Rewind sitting in his arms like a chair. Steeljaw was unwillingly being used as a ride for Eject while Grandslam and Raindance combined into their bipedal mode, Slamdance.

“Yeah, it was just gonna be temporary, but dah benefits are good for ‘em. Ah get a nice bit of property tah give dah minis a place tah go wild, and Ah get tah keep doin' my music.” Blaster said with a chuckle while they started walking around the plaza. There were whispers coming from mechs and femmes that Jazz didn’t know, and when they would pass the mech would just look away.

“I just kind of want to leave the planet. You all have to deal with bad publicity because of me.” Jazz spoke softly before Blaster could tell him otherwise, a femme with a microphone stopped them.

“Councilor Blaster, rumor has it that you're trying to get your brother to make up for his quote errors for what he has done prewar. What do you have to say?” The femme spoke into the microphone before extending it out to him.

 _Wha-What?_ Jazz looked up at Blaster with shock and fear. The red mech shook his helm, “no ya misunderstand meh. What he has done before dah war is enough tah keep him in Newgate for life. Ah am tryin' tah get him tah let his symbionts come live with meh.” Blaster was calming Jazz's side of the bond while he was still being interviewed.

“Okay, no more interviews. You know your rumor mill of a site isn't allowed here after last time.” Trailbreaker had seen the scene and felt like he should help the mechs. He shooed the astonished reporter away and smiled down at them when she went to go pester someone else. “Guess security isn't tight enough if they let her in. Hey Jazz, I was afraid Ironhide was going to have to drag you from your little corner.”

Jazz hugged his arm to the side and gave a dry laugh. “Not in the partying mood, I guess. I'm going to go talk to Blue.” The mech sat Rewind on the ground carefully. He said quickly before avoiding as many guests as he could while going over to Bluestreak. He grabbed the mech's elbow, interrupting the conversation he was having with Smokescreen. “Is he here?”

“I figured he would be the first to arrive. I gave him the datapad, don't worry Jazz. Prowl should be here, every ARK member has too. Are you enjoying yourself?” Bluestreak acted like his same old friendly self. His wings flared in realization, feeling the tension between his brother and Jazz. “Hey, have you explored Iacon at all since you got your visors?”

The Polyhexian shook his helm and shifted in his spot nervously. “Enjoying myself? Not really, I just kind of want to go back but Ironhide said that I should stay until it’s over. I haven’t explored too much; I don’t know where to even begin.” He looked at Smokescreen and glanced away unable to find the words. “I-I… I’m sorry Smokescreen, for everything.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry? Jazz, what you did to my brother isn’t enough for a pathetic sorry. You’re are really lucky that Bluestreak threatened to remove my wheels if I hurt you.” Jazz’s already unsteady EM field quickly closed off and he withdrew, and Smokescreen sighed heavily. “But if Blue is willing to give you another chance then I suppose I can do the same.”

The Polyhexian still folded his arms in front of himself with a frown. “I know that sorry isn’t going to make up for what I did, and I know nothing will fix anything I did.” He shifted uncomfortably before looking around nervously. Jazz tapped the bottom of ped, “I’m going to go walk around, and distract my processor.”

“Alright.” The two Praxians said with their wings flicking behind them.

Jazz took off to go disappear before a couple slightly overcharged mechs threw their arms over his shoulders. He jumped and planted his peds with his servos clenched near his sides. “Wh-Who are you? Leave me alone.”

“Are my optics deceiving me or is this the… the Decepticon glitch? Are you the party favors?” The black and chrome mech chuckled as he ran a servo across Jazz’s chest. Jazz shook his helm with a big frown. “Wonder how many spikes you’ve sucked.”

Blaster had been talking with Optimus and the other council members before he felt a spike of fear through the bond. His helm shot up with his Host Carrier programming going off. The red mech saw Jazz trying to break away from the overcharged mechs, but he was trying to keep it inconspicuous. “S’cuse meh.” Blaster walked over to the mechs before pulling the black and chrome mech away from Jazz. “Hey, keep yer servos off my friend.”

“Oh no, it’s a counselor.” The other mech was a burgundy color, and he was leaning against his friend while giggling drunkenly. “Come on h… it already would be happy too.”

Jazz hid behind Blaster while the mech defended him. “Ah can have security kick ya afts tah dah curb if ya touch him again. Leave my fam alone. Come on J, let’s go hang with Prime.” The red mech protectively threw his arm around the visored mech’s shoulders and led him to the rest of the council members. “Hey Magnus, ya need tah send some guards tah go control those mechs. They’re killin’ my party mood and bein’ noisy.”

Ultra Magnus sighed heavily with a nodded before comming some of security staff. “I said no high grade, how are there overcharged mechs already?”

“Normal grade.” Jazz commented softly, getting everyone’s attention, and he spoke a little louder. “You can get overcharged from consuming a lot of normal grade. Party’s been going on for three cycles, which is long enough for a mech their size to get overcharged.” He shifted on his legs while he was using his visors to try and hide the fact that he was looking for Prowl. _Where is he? Where is he? He has the datapad. If I’m here because I have to why isn’t he here? He wouldn’t be avoiding me, would he?_

Ratchet was impressed, “most mechs don’t know that. I’m impressed Jazz.”

“Well helped Soundwave win poker games. Nothing to be impressed that all of my apparent impressive skills were used to help him.” Jazz crossed his arms and looked at his peds. _Can I just go home?_

“At least someone said it.” Hot Rod sipped his energon before slightly tall white mech with splashes of red on his frame elbowed him. “Ow, what was that for Drift? He said it not me; I was just agreeing with the mech.”

“Sometimes comments are best kept private. What Soundwave, the Decepticons, did to Jazz was really disturbing to me when I was with them.” Drift said with a disappointment tone in his voice. “Roddie, just _give_ the mech a chance.”

Jazz shook his helm, “already have all of the Decepticon faction and the entire planet hating me. So, why not add another?” He spiraled a digit in the air lazily. The Polyhexian was playfully attacked by the bipedal twins jumping on his back. “Horns, horns, careful of the horns.”

A few of the mechs laughed while Jazz was struggling to handle the two mechs. “So, have any thought on the offer?” Optimus asked Jazz in a friendly manner. The Polyhexian was saved by Blaster taking Rewind into his arms. Jazz held onto Eject with a nervous pulse of his field.

He nodded with a shy smile, “it would be… interesting and I guess something familiar to what I’ve done before. Just minus the sabotaging and assassinating. Will hot shot here be okay with that?” Jazz looked at the red and yellow mech that was pouting up at Drift. “You said you were a Con, but I don’t recognize you.”

“I was called Deadlock during the war, but thanks to Ironhide and Hot Rod being stubborn I was able to get reformatted into a new mech.” Drift said with a smile while he placed a playful servo on Hot Rod’s helm.

Jazz looked thoughtful as he tried to recall the name. “Oh, the sword wielder who went MIA before we left for Earth. I wouldn't have even recognized you if you hadn't told me your name.”

A primarily blue Praxian walked over with a silver tray with glasses of energon. The waiter forgot his ped placement and spilt it all over the mechs' peds. Everyone jumped back to try and avoid the spilt energon. “Oh, Primus I am _so sorry_. I am so clumsy.” He quickly picked up the broken glass and piled it onto his tray.

Jazz got down to help and laughed at a memory. “I've had my share of broken glass. What's your name?” The Praxian was about to introduce himself, but when he saw who he was being helped by him freaked out even more.

“Primus I just embarrassed myself in front of Jazz! This is so embarrassing; I can't believe this.” His wings were dipped with shame and his empty servo covering his optics.

“You sound like you idolize Jazz?” Hot Rod looked at the young mech puzzled. They both stood and the strange mech gawked at the young councilmember.

“Are you kidding me!? Of course, I do, he is amazing! Jazz ended the war and he killed Megatron. It's so amazing, if I had been around during the war, I would want to be an Ops mech under his command!” His wings moved excitedly, but the mech looked at him with a frown on his face.

Jazz shook his helm and stood beside Blaster, uncomfortable with the young mech’s happiness. “You shouldn’t idolize me, there are plenty of Autobots to idolize… um-”

“Skids, name’s Skids. And you ended the war, killed a crazy mech single servoly. No offense, but not even Optimus Prime or any of the old council could kill him! Everyone in the war has had done regretful things, you did it for survival. My brother is going to kick himself in the aft when he finds out he missed out on meeting you. Wait is Autobot second lieutenant Prowl here?”

Jazz frowned even more, “no he isn’t here. I’m sorry, but you don’t know what I went through Skids.” He was growing annoyed that some random mech was so excited to see him.

Blaster didn’t want to, but he peered into the Praxian’s thoughts. _I know more than you think._ Skids’s excitement dampened and he looked startled by Jazz’s reaction or his comment. “Oh, um… I um… hm… I should um should go get this taken care of. Sorry for um… upsetting you. It was _truly_ nice to see you.” The young waiter quickly scurried off, leaving the group confused.

The party was going on and Jazz was messing with his servos nervously. He was tapping his ped with him moving from side to side. Blaster and everybody in the circle didn’t need to ask Jazz what was worrying him. Smokescreen, from the distance, called out and got the mech’s attention. “Oh, hey Prowl over here!”

Everyone’s attention went in the direction that the distant mech was waving down. Prowl had walked into the plaza with a silver Praxian with gold spiraling all over her frame. Jazz’s servo shot up to cover his mouth and the others in the group were as shocked. The Praxian wasn’t even aware of Jazz with his EM field closed up and him hiding slightly behind Blaster and Ironhide. The visored mech was leaning against the Host mech and he felt his spark breaking.

“Get me out. I need to get out. Get me out Blaster.” Jazz was trying to keep his voice under control as he watched Prowl hold his arm out to Bluestreak. Blaster nodded and wrapped his arm around the slightly shaking mech. Jazz was being led out of the party with Prowl still not noticing the mech while he was conversing.

“Blue, this is my girlfriend Sunray. Ray, this is my older brother Bluestreak. I didn’t even know you had arrived yet, sorry guess I should’ve kept my comm on.” Smokescreen chuckled nervously before hugging the slender femme and then kissed her cheek.

Bluestreak smiled and shook her servo with a smile. “Wow, when Smokescreen said he was courting someone I didn’t believe him. How did he convince you to let him court you?” Three of the four Praxians were laughing while Prowl just shook his helm. “Oh, Prowl safe to say that you read the datapad?”

“Your assumption is correct.” Prowl said stiffly before a servo grabbed his servo, and it was a very angry Ironhide. The four Praxians knew that it was a bad thing coming. “Ironhide?”

“You have some _serious_ fragging explaining to do. And _you_ have some serious counselling to do.” The red mech waved his servos above his helm. “You know how much stress he was going through and how important you are to him, and you walk past him with someone else!”

The femme waved her servos in front of herself, “Prowl was helping me find Smokescreen. Because my silly boyfriend decided to turn his comlink off.” She laughed teasingly before kissing the multicolored Praxian on the cheek.

The red mech face palmed with a groan and Bluestreak knew what had happened. Prowl wasn’t catching on as fast, but when he finally did, he was upset. “Where is he? I need to explain to him what happened.”

“Well you better break the speeding limit because Blaster his taking Jazz to the house. And you _better_ string a fragging love poem together.” Ironhide pointed at the entrance and Prowl didn’t even give his brothers a second glance and took off to go and try explain himself.

Jazz and Blaster were sitting outside a diner that was a mile away from Ironhide’s home. The Polyhexian hid his face in the table as he cried into his arms, and Blaster was rubbing his friend’s arm. “Hey, maybe he has a reason?”

“Yeah to rub it in m-my face. I hate him, he doesn’t want anything to do with me! I just never want to never see that mech or any fragging Praxian ever again.” Jazz sat up and covered his face with tears falling onto the table. He was devastated that the mech that he wanted to see the most had walked past him with a date beside him. _Why did I ever love him?_

Blaster did a double take and saw the mech that was currently hurting his friend. He shook his helm as he spoke to Prowl in his mind. _Don’t Prowl, ya really hurt Jazz._

 _I just want to explain to Jazz what happened. Please Blaster, just five kliks. It was a complete misunderstanding._ Prowl’s spark was pulsing that he was only a couple feet away from his one true love. He wouldn’t have spotted Jazz if it wasn’t for the fact that Steeljaw and Ramhorn stood out like an enforcer in a criminal ring. Blaster shook his helm again, putting his ped down for the sake of Jazz.

 _Just give him some time._ Blaster was calming the crying mech. Prowl's wings fell flat as he fought the urge to ignore Blaster's obvious warning and do what he knows is right. He nodded in temporary defeat and stepped off the sidewalk, transforming and headed for Praxus. “Hey, why don't we get ya home?”

Jazz nodded as he stood up with his EM field still closed off. When the group arrived at the house, Jazz went to his quarters and just laid on the berth. Blaster and the Cassetticons laid with him. He fell into stasis with his face hidden by his thermal blanket.

When morning rolled around, Ironhide was getting back from a jog and had yet to see Jazz. He went to his quarters and knocked on his door before entering. To the mech's surprise, the Polyhexian wasn't in his quarters, and he scratched his helm with confusion. “Kid?” Ironhide left the empty room to go find him.

Ironhide was about to go outside until he heard noises coming from inside the workout room. He opened the door slowly, seeing Jazz punching the slag out of the punching bag. The Polyhexian was taking his anger out on the poor thing until its stand almost toppled over.

“How ya… How are you doing Jazz?” Ironhide asked while Jazz punched the bag one last time in anger. His cooling fans were going wild after Jazz finally let himself cool off.

“How do you _think_ I am doing Ironhide!? I have been waiting twenty fragging years to see Prowl again, and _everyone_ told me that he was waiting for me! And. I. See. Him. With. Someone. Else!” He punched the bag with each word.

Across the planet, Prowl was sitting in his office with a casefile in his servo. He had scanned the file several times, but he didn't know what was in it. The other enforcers had sensed the dark field surrounding their deputy and stayed as far as possible from him. Prowl sat it on the desk before going to go talk to Indigo.

“Oh Prowl, you look… wow! You okay?” Indigo looked up and was startled by how terrible his deputy looked. “Did you pull an all-nighter again?”

The white and black Praxian shook his helm. “I made a slight mistake last night. My… friend saw me escorting my brother's girlfriend, misunderstanding the situation.”

“I see. So, this friend isn't a friend he's an _important_ mech. Why don't you take the solar cycle off, and think of a plan to make it up to him?” Indigo suggested, sensing that Prowl wasn't going to get much work done in his current mental state.

“I think that… Primus, I can't even get my battle computer to come up with a number. Maybe you are right Sir. Comm me if you need anything.” Prowl said before leaving the station to go home. He got home and something sparked in him. The mech went to a closet in his room and was looking for the box that he had kept his most prized items in. “Where is it? I had it in here. I swear if they took it, I'm going to strangle them both.”

Prowl commed his brothers with his wings waving behind him in anger. They both connected and they both greeted him happily. ::What did you two do to it?::

::With what?:: Smokescreen asked with confusion.

::Don't play dumb Smokescreen. Where is the box with the gifts Jazz and I gave each other? It was in my closet, and I can't find it.:: Prowl started taking his things out of the small space to make sure.

::Prowl, we didn't take anything from your house. I haven't been to Praxus in several solar cycles. And I think that last night was the first time Smokey has been off the track.:: Bluestreak teased their younger brother and the Praxian mockingly laughed. ::Maybe you misplaced it?::

::No, I didn't misplace it Bluestreak. I don't _misplace_ things.:: The Praxian sat on the end of his berth with a heavy sigh. He didn't say anything before disconnecting the comm. Prowl felt a glitch coming on and went to his kitchen where he grabbed a vial of high grade. “I'm going to regret this in the morning.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Council meets Meister, everyone suspects it's Jazz.

Ch. 10

The council was gathered around getting ready to go over today's agenda, but Blaster was reaching for his blaster. “Ah know yer here. Show yerself.” The others looked at the red and yellow mech in confusion before some dropped onto the table in a very similar position that Jazz did when Optimus first met him. He turned his helm to the sides and moved his body like a snake.

The mech was all black, covering his face was Black light’s mask, and over his shoulder was Jazz's sniper rifle. “That's… that rifle belongs to Jazz, and it should be with me. And that mask where did you get it from?”

Blaster was trying to get the mech's processor, but he felt the strong wall in his mind. The mech slowly stood with a digit pointing to Optimus. “You destroyed a family, only mech that needs redemption is you Optimus Prime. I can see into your mind; the guilt is eating you up and your relationship with your mate is strained.”

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” Ultra Magnus asked angrily.

“I… am Meister. The voice of the voiceless. I was trained by the best, that is all you need to know. Bring me the mech that you all have damned, and you may be able to redeem yourselves.” The mech known as Meister lifted his servo in front of his masked face. Between each digit were tiny silver balls that he threw down, blinding the mechs in the room, and once they were able to see again the mech wasn't there.

There was a long moment of silence before Ratchet had the ability to speak again. “How. How did he get ahold of Jazz's rifle!? Ironhide, I thought you had all of the weapons from the Decepticons?”

“The kid didn't have it on him or on the ARK when he turned himself in. I thought Jazz had Light's mask. I've never heard of this Meister. Get a read on him Blaster?” Ironhide asked as the mech shrugged. “Shrug? A slagging shrug?! What do you mean!?”

“Ah couldn't. He had a really strong wall, and it would've taken meh a while tah break it. He said dat he saw Prime's thoughts and mech's with dat strong of a wall means they are either aware of meh bein' telepathic, or-" Blaster paused for a moment as he tried to get himself to say what he was thinking. “Or…is a telepathic themselves.”

“Anybody else going to point out the fact that he had a slagging Autobot insignia on his chest? No? Just me, okay.” Hot Rod waved his arms as Optimus was still trying to get over the shock of reliving his meeting with Jazz or how he moved like Black light did when he would get back from a mission. “Optimus?”

The Prime shook his helm and focused his attention on the conversation. “I didn't recognize the paintjob. Ironhide, try subtlety getting information on Black light's mask when you see Jazz. Maybe he will know who this mech is and how he got his things.”

“Got it Prime.” Ironhide nodded before he looked at a very focused medic. “Ratch’?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing I'm just thinking about this Meister. Black light told me once that the mask will only fit on Polyhexians and he mentioned family. And he moved just like Jazz and Black light did, maybe this is Jazz's subconscious?” Ratchet didn't want to admit it, but he had to face the facts. “There are a lot of similarities, and Jazz was devastated about Prowl's idiocy.”

Blaster leaned forward with his face resting in his servo. “Ah gotta agree with Doc. Dah mind does weird things went it's hurtin'. Ah'll keep my side of dah bond open tah see if Ah can catch Jazz off guard long enough tah see his reasonin' for dis.” _Ah can't believe Jazz would do dis. Steel, go keep an optic on him._

 _Got it._ The lion said through the bond before leaving Blaster's office in the higher levels of the towers and ran for wherever Jazz was at. The Polyhexian was sitting on the roof of the house with his arms wrapped around his legs. He wanted to forget Prowl, but he couldn't get himself to do it. “Well reformatting would erase my memories for me, and I wouldn't be feeling this way.”

“What does my spark want? Prowl or no Prowl?” Jazz stood up on the peak of the roof, walking across the thin part with his arms crossed. The visored mech spun on his heel before walking back across in deep thought. He was so focused on trying to figure out what to do, that he didn't hear Smokescreen down below calling for him. Something small bounced off Jazz's frame, getting him to look up in surprise. He finally saw the patiently waiting Praxian, and he wasn’t exactly happy. “What, come to rub it in my face!? Was it some big plan to get me to back off of Prowl? Well congratulations Smokey, I _never_ want to see any of you ever again!”

“Will you shut up and let me talk? It was a big misunderstanding. Prowl feels terrible, and it was kinda my fault. Can you just hear me out? And get down from there?! You're going to hurt yourself!” Smokescreen shouted from down below. He didn't like how high up the Polyhexian was, and then a question soon filled his processor. “How did you even get up there?”

Jazz walked down the side of the roof with his arms crossing. “I climbed up here. And if it _was a big misunderstanding_ , why isn't your aft of a brother here? I'm not _going_ to get hurt Smokescreen. Just go away and leave me alone, Prowl made it very fragging clear he doesn't want me.” He pulled out the purple geode that he had given Prowl and threw it on the ground near the Praxian’s peds. “I should've just given up thinking that love was a real thing.”

Smokescreen picked up the broken rock and looked up to see Jazz back on the other side. He sighed and left the Polyhexian alone. Jazz pulled out the moonstone that Prowl had given him. He held it tightly in his shaking servos before silently crying into his lap. _No one wants a broken frame._ And Jazz kept repeating that to himself.

Bluestreak and Smokescreen had met up at his apartment. When his brother told him what happened, he knew that the crystal should be returned to their brother. They arrived at Prowl's home, letting themselves in, and froze in the doorway when they saw the state the house was in. Boxes and things were scattered around the hallway alone, and furniture was moved or turned over in the connecting rooms.

“Uh, Prowl?” Bluestreak was never uncomfortable, but for once was uneasy. As they looked in rooms they picked up overturned furniture. There was mumbling coming from Prowl's room before the sound of glass breaking was enough to get the brothers to rush inside. What they weren't expecting was to see Prowl stumbling into his berth while grumbling nonsense. “Prowl?”

Smokescreen went over to where a puddle of liquid and glass sat. The same liquid was dripping from the wall. He sniffed it and gagged at how strong it was. “Are you… overcharged Prowl?”

“Prowl and overcharge in the same sentence?” Bluestreak didn't believe his younger brother as he leaned close to Prowl. He started shaking his shoulder gently. “Prowl, hey P-wow. Holy scrap you smell like high grade.”

Prowl lazily swung his arms in Bluestreak's face. “I promised him I wouldn't lose, keep it safe for him. I am no better than Soundwave.” The Praxian hiccupped with his words slurring. He was exhausted, having spent his time off searching for his geode and discovering that high grade helped with stopping the oncoming glitches. “Like what do I even say!? ‘I'm sorry I lost the gift you gave me while we were courting each other.’ Primus he was right; I broke our family.”

“Who was right?” The two were confused in many ways on what to do to help Prowl when he was like this.

“Black light. He was here last night, and he told me that… our family was broken.” Prowl felt his helm hurting, and he started patting down his nightstand for the bottle of high grade. “And now I lost my energon!” He hid his face back under his pillow with a whine.

 _I don't even know what to do in this situation. What does Prowl do for me when I'm charged up like this?_ Smokescreen grabbed Bluestreak's servo and pulled him to the side. “I think we should sit them in the same room. And we need to find whoever broke in here. I don't care what you have to do to convince Blaster to drag Jazz's aft into a room, but you need to it.”

“You're right, maybe we should do it in my office at Newgate. Because I'm sensing someone is going to need repairs. Do you mind watching Prowl? So, then I can try setting up a date for this?” The middle brother asked as he looked back at Prowl. “Prowl, you didn't break anything.”

Jazz was following Optimus through the towers. He was trying to keep his stress levels low, but while he was listening to Optimus talk he could feel everyone stopping to stare at them. Some were softly whispering to themselves or with each other, and he knew it was about him with their side glances as they talked.

“Optimus, I need you to sign off on this.” A dark green femme stopped them in their walk. She held out a datapad with a smile on her face. Optimus looked at the items before signing it off.

“Vera, can you finish showing Jazz around and take him to where he'll be working at? Magnus needs me.” Optimus asked, catching Jazz's attention and the Polyhexian quickly hid his servos behind him. He was nervously scratching off his paint.

Vera looked at Jazz and smiled, “Sure Optimus. Come on we have a long walk, the elevators broke, and we have twenty floors to get to.” She laughed before grabbing Jazz's arm and led him off. “I'm Vera, I kind of do a bit of everything around here. You must be pretty excited.”

“About?” Jazz pulled his servo away with a small frown on his face.

“Being able to work with Optimus again. He's a really great mech, the last mech I worked for was extremely mean to me. Tarn Natives don't get a whole lot of respect.” Jazz thought how much this femme reminded him of Smokescreen during the war.

“I'd be much happier if I wasn't constantly stared at.” The Polyhexian crossed his arms. They climbed up the long flights of stairs before finally reaching their floor. Steeljaw walked out of a room on the left, stopping when he saw the two. The lion ran to Jazz and pressed his helm against his leg. “Hey Steel.”

 _Blaster wants me to quote ‘hang out with you’ because he doesn't want you to be lonely. But we all know it's because he's worried someone is going to start something._ Steeljaw said through the bond. Him along with the rest of his brothers did find it unusual to have someone besides Blaster in their bond. Jazz nodded with a relieved smile.

“Well since it's your first day, I'll help you get used to everything. My office is going to right over there, so if you need anything just shout.” Vera continued to smile brightly as she pointed to a closed door that was on their right. She led Jazz to a door that was at the end of the hall. “You and Optimus are working in here.”

The Polyhexian stopped in his tracks. “Wait… I'm working in the same area as Optimus?” He started rubbing his arm nervously. “He's still so trusting. Why?” He couldn't understand why Optimus would be _that_ trusting of him to work in the same room as him. _Unless he doesn't trust me and wants to keep me in sight._

“I'm not sure, you'd have to ask him yourself. Optimus does a lot of things I don't understand.” The femme said before the stopped at a desk that was near a side window close to the second pair of doors. “And this is where you will be working. The terminal is already set up for you, all you have to do to login in is enter the code that is on your desk, and then I believe you’ll understand how accepting and rejecting emails work.”

 _Uh… hmmm… I hope she realizes that I never actually dealt with this type of work._ Jazz felt bad for Vera, because he knew he was going to call for her help a lot. He went to ask her a question, but someone called for her and she apologized before leaving him and Steeljaw alone. Jazz sat in the chair uncomfortably before rubbing his helm. “Steel, do they not realize that I _have no_ idea what to do? I only know two things being a frag toy and sabotaging. Office work is not a part of that skill set.”

 _You can do it Jazz. Think of it as mission reports; will it benefit or harm the safety of the team and the Autobot cause. Or in this case the safety of the planet._ Steeljaw laid down beside the Jazz's desk, his helm laid on his paws. Jazz started bouncing his leg as he scratched at his paintjob. _You'll be fine Jazz. Blaster is just a floor below if you need him._

“I guess I can do that, but I still can’t help but feel nervous about everything.” He tapped his digit on the desk in thought. Jazz looked around in thought, noting how large the room was and extremely empty it was. All there was in the office was Optimus’s desk that was near the back of the room, a large bookcase filled with datapads, and Jazz’s desk. “Still doesn’t know how to do interior designing, even with Elita around.”

The door to the room opened and out of habit Jazz quickly stood and his EM field closed off. Optimus walked in with several datapads in his servos, looking stressed about something. The Polyhexian tilted his helm with a frown of confusion as the Prime sat down with a heavy sigh. “Something wrong Optimus?”

“Nothing, just a lot of publicity and reporters want to interview. Jazz, does the name Meister mean anything to you?” Optimus asked slightly subtly and the visored mech sat back down with no emotion. _Hm._

“Can’t say it does Optimus. Who is it?” The visored mech was thankful to have his visors because they expertly hid the shock in his useless optics. _I haven’t heard that name in a long time. How did Prime find out about it?_

“Oh nothing, someone had mentioned it during interrogation with Ultra Magnus. I figured you would be a good start to figure out who this mech is.” Optimus partially lied while observing the mech’s reaction to the name. And despite Jazz’s best reaction, Optimus knew that there was more to it, and the Prime was putting the masked mech and Jazz in the same light.

The red and blue mech decided to drop the conversation when he sensed the growing stress from his friend. Jazz focused on the terminal in front of him with an uneasy vibe. He was not into sitting still because of the training Soundwave did to him. Jazz was constantly active and learning to better adjust to his surroundings and avoid punishment. _A high-speed chase would be more exciting than this._ Jazz’s leg started bouncing while he read the filtered emails. He groaned with his helm bowing, getting an amused chuckle from Optimus.

“Laugh it up Prime, I’m glad that ya enjoy seein’ me in mental pain.” Jazz rubbed the sides of his helm. He wrapped his digits on the desk with his leg bouncing as he read an e-mail before his helm shot up as he heard voices from the distance. The Polyhexian looked down at Steeljaw with a slight frown. _Inside or out?_ The golden lion shrugged before standing up and going over to the main door with his receptor pressed against the door. “So, who’s this Hot Rod?”

“Well he’s training to be the next leader of the Autobots. And don’t let him bother you too much, he gets his personality and lack of restraint from his Sire.” He folded his arms as he leaned forward, enjoying that he was having an almost normal conversation with Jazz. The Polyhexian relaxed when Steeljaw told him that there were just mechs and femmes coming and going.

Jazz looked at the feline as he laid back beside him. “Kinda reminds me of Sentinel; cocky and pretends to know everything.” Optimus’s silence was enough to get Jazz to gawk in his direction. He reclined in the chair with a small groan, “of course he would be his son. Explains why he hates me so much and wants me dead. Have you and Elita thought about having sparklings?”

“We have, but we’re waiting until the time is right.” Optimus made sure that Jazz’s first day wasn’t too hard and busy, so he made sure that Vera got a majority of the workload. “What are you planning on doing after this work cycle?”

“Go home and recharge, I guess. Maybe wander around Iacon before I _have_ to go back. Other than those two ideas, I really don’t have anything else planned.” Jazz leaned forward with his chin resting in his servo with a small sigh. “Blaster has been trying to get me to go to downtown Helix, not sure why though.”

Optimus rubbed his chin with a thoughtful hum, “well Helix is where you were originally from, so I can’t tell you the purpose exactly, but I know that if it’s Blaster we’re talking about it’ll have something to do with music.” Jazz gave a dry laugh before smiling thoughtfully.

“I’ve always wondered why my creators chose to name me after some music club. Jazz, it’s so simple but the music from Earth standards is so intricate and beautiful. It wasn’t until we got to Earth that I heard jazz music, the only music I ever listened to while in Kaon were musicals and club music. I don’t understand what is so great about Helix, they kill innocent sparklings for simply existing.” He sighed softly before looking at Optimus with a puzzled expression. “I wonder what my Carrier would think of me. I know I was very young when I was taken, but I remember going into stasis while listening to this song playing in my processor. During the war, when Black light was still online, we would go to his nest and I would listen to him talk about her. He may not have been able to talk with his mask, but I knew that he loved her so much and me. Light just wanted his family to be safe just like me. But I broke my family.”

“Jazz, Soundwave isn’t-” Optimus was about to talk, but Jazz interrupted him.

“Soundwave is _not_ my family. Not anymore, not since... since I discovered the truth. My family is broken because of me, which is why I don’t intend on sticking around after a while.” The mech said confidently before abruptly turning his attention back to the terminal in front of him. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else as well as not be reminded of Prowl.

The rest of the work shift was in awkward silence, and Jazz didn’t feel like driving so he went with walking home. He was in deep thought as he made his way to the house, humming to himself with his thoughts wondering. As he let his mind go wild, a flash appeared in his processor, causing him to stop in his tracks.

_Jazz was searching through the destroyed ruins of the hospital in Praxus. “Come on, come on, where are they? How hard is it to find one drone!?” He pushed rubble away and climbed over what couldn’t be moved it, the Polyhexian was going through a lot of emotions especially when he found out the real plans Soundwave had. “I wouldn’t be having to climb around this scrapyard like some kind of monkey if that fragging slagger kept his promise.”_

_He went into the emergency repair bay and started moving everything and rusted frames out of his way. The visored mech grinned excitedly when he saw the half rusted half broken repair drone laying on the floor. Jazz lifted it onto the repair bench, “we’ll get you up and running in no time.”_

Jazz stumbled over his peds after he pulled himself from his memory. “Why a drone? What did I need a medical drone for that Ratchet couldn’t do?” He leaned against the wall of the building next to him. Jazz was getting furious with himself, needing to know where that drone was and what it knew about the blocks in his memories.

It was the middle of the night and Ironhide heard a crashing sound coming from outside his quarters. He grabbed his small blaster before quickly leaving to find whoever thought it was a good idea to break into his home. The red mech checked the office, finding it clear, and then moved to look into Jazz’s quarters and found it empty. “Jazz? Not another panic attack.” He groaned as he went to where he knew Jazz would be at. Ironhide went to the kitchen, flicking the lights on. “What happened this time ki… kid? What in Primus’ name.”

Jazz’s visors were dimly lit, and he was drinking from a bottle of high grade. He stood from the floor of the kitchen and walked closer to Ironhide until he pinned the mech against the side of the door frame. “Ya should have listened tah meh when Ah told ya’ll tah bring Prowler tah meh. Ah _want_ Prowl and Ah _want_ him before Ah am gone forever. If ya don’t help meh fix my family, Ah leave Cybertron forever.” He stepped back before groaning and collapsed against the red mech. Ironhide caught him just as he onlined with his helm pulsing hard. “Hide? Hide how did I get in here?”

“You were stasis walking and talking a bunch of this nonsense. Don’t you remember any of this?” Ironhide gave Jazz a confused look as he helped him onto his peds. The black and white mech shook his helm before scratching the back of his helm in confusion. Ironhide was a bit weirded out and took Jazz back to his quarters while taking the bottle away from him. “Okay, well why don’t you get some recharge before we both go mad.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Jazz nodded as they went to his room. He laid on his berth with a tired sigh. The mech held onto the stone that he couldn’t destroy despite how much anger he felt. Ironhide left Jazz alone, feeling too tired to notify Bluestreak of what just occurred. Jazz curled up under his thermal blanket. _Good night Prowl._


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave gives Prowl a little... surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long silence, since COVID-19 it has been a whirlwind at my work, so here is an already written chapter to let ya'll know I'm still kicking. I'll post a couple more.

Ch. 11

Prowl stood in front the clear door with his arms crossed. He didn’t know what this mech could possibly want from him. The guards pressed their servos on the scanners, letting the enforcer walk in before they locked it again behind him. Prowl sat down in the empty chair with his servos folded in front of him. “What did you want Soundwave?”

“Well to talk of course, why else would I want to talk to you? And how’s Jazz doing? He hasn’t come and visited me; he must be doing well if he’s able to block me from our bond.” Soundwave mimicked the Praxian’s posture, noticing the tiny twitch of his wings. He sat back in realization before chuckling deeply. “I see, you pulled how all of your comrades called it ‘a Prowl’ and did something stupid. And now my little pet is spark broken, doesn’t want to see you, and you drown yourself in high grade to dull the pain.”

“He is not _yours_ or a pet! Jazz is a Cybertronian just like you. Now tell me why you wanted to see me.” Prowl was internally growling at how spot on Soundwave was on. _How can he know this without being able to read my mind?_

The Host mech opened his chest plate and pulled something out of his spark chamber. He tossed it in front of the weary Praxian, watching him carefully pick it up. “How do you think my pet will handle the thought that because of his belief in friends and love he got his sparkling killed? I took the spark from him to keep it safe, and I was going to return it to Jazz once he offed that Prime. But because I am not its original Carrier, it grew weak and died.”

Prowl’s wings flared and his optics grew as he continued to stare at the small spark. “He really was sparked, Primus. How could you do this to anyone? You knew that Jazz would have done anything for you, why would you force him to spark and then take it away from him? For months Jazz was spark broken that he had a false carrying.” He held the spark close to him, not wanting it anywhere near the monster that hurt it.

“Anything but kill Optimus Prime, but I’m no different than those Polyhexians. It was as common as finding metal in a scrapyard, to kill sparklings. I did what was best for the mission, the sparkling was just a way to control you and… make the conversion easier on my pet. He would have made an amazing Host Carrier and a wonderful mate, don’t you think? But he just had to go and fall in love, but now that I think about it, I may have to thank you Prowl.” Soundwave said with a small chuckle.

“Thank me? For what?” Prowl was getting angrier by the klik.

Soundwave stood up before leaning over the table as he removed his mask. “Because of you breaking your promises over and over and over again, Jazz may actually correct his mistake. You are his big blue star after all. And when he finds out about the spark that is in your servos, he’s going to snap so hard he’ll kill every single one of you Autobots before crawling back to me.” Soundwave sat back with a proud smirk on his face.

Prowl stood up quickly and ordered the guards to open the door. He quickly walked out with the small spark in his servos. “I won’t let that happen; I will not let my family fall apart because of me again.” The Praxian looked down at the cold crystal in his servo, and he gently touched it with his wings twitching behind him. “Your Carrier deserves to know young spark.”

“Prowl, Prowl what are you doing here? Oh, what’s that?” Bluestreak was heading up to his office before he saw Prowl standing near the elevators. He looked at his brother’s expression and noticed how unreadable it was. The older Praxian glanced up in the other’s direction before giving him a look. “How did you get ahold of a spark?”

“I found Jazz’s sparkling from during the war, the one we all thought was a false sparking.” He spoke softly. Bluestreak pulled Prowl into an empty elevator and shut it down. Prowl took that as his hint to start talking, and he took a deep intake before telling him everything Soundwave had said. “There is a seventy-six percent chance that what Soundwave says is true. He wanted me to come so I could take this spark and show it to Jazz, and I fell for his trap!”

Bluestreak took his brother's arm to get him to calm down slightly. “Bro, Jazz isn't going to do that just because of a misunderstanding. And from what you said, Soundwave doesn't know that Jazz broke the bond, which means either Jazz was concentrating hard enough to block Soundwave or Blaster put up a strong enough barrier to keep Soundwave from feeling it.”

“But he's right, I fragged up so many times with Jazz. My battle computer keeps coming up with a two percent chance that Jazz will ever forgive me.” The Praxian gently touched the cold spark with a small sigh. “I still can't believe the sparkling was real, and the only one who knew it was real was Jazz. We all thought it was a mental thing. How could Soundwave do this to someone and say he loves him?”

“I don't know, but love makes you do a lot of strange things. Sometimes you'll love someone so much you'll hurt them to protect them.” The younger mech said softly before pushing the button to turn the elevator on. “If I can suggest something Prowl, when you decide to explain to Jazz what happened at the party, don't say something stupid.”

The enforcer nodded silently before carefully subspacing the spark. Prowl had a lot to think about, what to say to finally apologize to Jazz. “Jazz did always enjoy me using percentages when supposedly being romantic.” Prowl was leaving Newgate’s outer wall when he saw a blue Praxian pacing nervously in front of the wall. He walked to him with his wings trying to get a sense of the mech's EM field. “Hello, do you require help?”

The younger Praxian shouted with a small jump when Prowl got closer. To Prowl the mech was still very young, he couldn't be much older than when Jazz joined the Autobots. His wings flared as his optics grew before his wings pressed against his back. “I just came to see my Sire… well my half Sire… my actual Sire was never around. But, the idea of going in there terrifies the slag out of me.”

 _He looks so much like Smokescreen when he was younger._ Prowl thought to himself before relaxing his wings. “Can I ask who your Sire is?”

The young mech looked even more startled and he just blurted out a random name. “Thrust!” He was quick to transform and merge with traffic. Prowl was even more startled by the answer. His battle computer was screaming at him that there was more to this mech, but he forced himself to focus on the one mech that was important at the moment.

Jazz was rubbing his temples as he read a datapad on the request for the expansion of one of the primary schools in Iacon. “I don't know what to say, I never went to school. What is so great about being stuck inside a building for eight groons a solar cycle, sitting still, and listening to some grouchy old mech?”

“Not all schools are like that.” Optimus chuckled after listening to Jazz complain. “There are a lot of life being created and the school is wanting to be a step ahead of the students that will be going to learn. If the classes are crowded and halls full, no one will be able to get where they need to on time.”

The Polyhexian was looking at the information in front of him. His thoughts started drifting until his face felt wet. He touched his cheek and saw tears staining the tips of his digits. Jazz quickly wiped his optics before finally replying to the request. _Why am I crying? There's nothing to cry about._

There was a knock on the door before Hot Rod walked in with a few data pads. “Wheeljack wants Council approval on these new inventions. Magnus and I already declined, Elita and Ratchet haven't seen it, and Blaster and Ironhide approved.” He handed them to Optimus before looking over his shoulder at Jazz. “Must've suck seeing Prowl with someone else.”

“Hot Rod.” Optimus said with a warning tone. Jazz forced himself to have tunnel vision and blared music in his internal speakers. He wasn't going to break down, not in front of Hot Rod.

“What I was just saying!? If I saw Drift with someone else, I'd be pretty upset too.” He said defensively.

Jazz started rubbing his horns in hopes to calm himself down. Steeljaw pressed himself against the leg closest to him. _Don't focus on Prowl. Focus on work, focus on the bond, focus on myself. He's just trying to egg me on like everyone else outside this room._ He calmed down with the help of the feline beside him.

“Try to be a bit more sympathetic with his situation. Jazz already has enough heat around here.” Optimus said calmly while reading the scientist's requests. He approved three of them before handing them back to the younger mech. “Tell Wheeljack I said hello when you see him.”

The red and yellow mech nodded before heading out the door. Jazz turned his music off and sat back with a heavy ex-vent. “Optimus, can you tell me why Ironhide was interrogating me about my rifle? I figured it was collected when I turned myself in.”

 _So much for being subtle._ The Prime thought to himself before answering the waiting mech. “The reason is because we don't have it. And we found an empty clip that belonged to it.”

“And you thought I had it. Well I don't know where it is. Last place I remember was on the ARK along with my stuff.” Jazz rested the side of his face in his palm while reading another email.

“Well when we checked the ARK after your initial arrest, your quarters were completely empty. Same with your office.” Optimus was expecting a reaction of being caught, but what he got was absolute confusion.

“Empty? Where did all my slag go?” Jazz was trying to think of what happened to his belongings, but he couldn't think of anything besides his quarters and office being full of stuff. “Are ya sure that my things weren't there?”

“Yes, we checked the entire ship, and nothing was there.” The Prime watched the confusion and frustration twist on the other mech's face. Jazz brought his digits to his chin as he thought of where he could have placed them.

“Did you check Halifax’s place? It's secure and hidden. Seems like a place I'd stash things.” Jazz suggested, not knowing that the Council where suspecting him of being the masked mech from a while ago. “I don't understand how my stuff could just disappear. Not unless I did it and erased my memory of it, but that just seems counterproductive on my part.” Jazz laughed at himself while going back to reading.

Jazz had worked earlier in the solar cycle, which meant he had time to explore Iacon. He still was overwhelmed by all of the sights that he didn't know where to even begin. “May I suggest the wall of fallen Autobots?” Jazz turned to see Mirage standing behind him with a smirk on his face.

“Hey Raj, what are you doing here? Where's Hound?” Jazz asked while Mirage wrapped an arm around his and started walking him to the park across the city to where the memorial was.

“I told you before Jazz Ops has your back. Bee has reason to believe that your being followed by some Kaonion or Kaonite. So, him and Hound are going to find out more. And I'm going to be your tour guide.” The noble mech explained as they walked. “And trust me, being the Council's espionage team, isn't as exciting as you may think.”

“Why would someone from Kaon want me? Why would the Council need team of spies?” Jazz asked while growing on guard for any attacks. _Don't ask stupid questions, they probably want to kill you because you killed Megatron and got one of their biggest lords imprisoned._

The white and blue mech shrugged as they came to a stop in front of a large marble wall. In the marble were the names of fallen Autobots and their ranks. “We aren't sure, but Bee suspects it has to do with that Praxian from the party. He pointed out that he made a beeline for your group before pretending to be clumsy. And so, Bee has been following you around while the rest of Ops has been following each member of the Council just in case it isn't you.”

“The kid? Come on Raj, he was like a giggly femme when he saw me. He'd have to be a good actor to fool me.” Jazz said as he looked at all of the names.

“Jazz, no offense, but your training is kind of rusty. You used to be able to sense me even when I was invisible. If the mech did his homework, he didn't have to work hard to fool you into thinking he was a clumsy waiter.” Mirage said before pointing to a couple of names. “I made sure they got put in there, just for you.”

The visored mech saw his Creators’ names engraved into the stone. He touched them with a smile on his face. “Thanks Raj, I guess you're right about my training. I wish I knew more about them. The memory chip Blaster gave me is great, but it only shows me the same four memories.”

“I could try to find a file on them if you want. Any ideas on where to start? Something from the memories?” He said while keeping his receptors opened for anything strange.

The Polyhexian nodded as he stepped away from the wall. “In one memory, my Carrier told Light that she picked my name because of this bar they went to frequently.”

Mirage nodded as he tried to think of where to start. “Well prewar Cybertron had a lot of music bars, but the good ones were more concentrated Helix. My creators used to take me to Helix for private music tutors.”

“Thanks, maybe I'll take Blaster's offer on going to Helix. Where else should we go around here?” Jazz said with a smile on his face while Mirage took him everywhere they could before Jazz had to head back. They were laughing about something before stopping in front of the door. “Thank you so much for this Raj. This was nice and… normal feeling for something I've never experienced before. I'm sorry for everything I did.”

Mirage waved him off with a smile, “don't worry about it Jazz. We all forgive you, we're sorry for not seeing the signs and helping you. Once in Ops always in Ops.” He hugged Jazz, not expecting him to reciprocate the action. When the noble left Jazz went inside the house with a smile on his face.

Ironhide was just coming out of the workout room when he saw Jazz standing in the hallway. “Oh, you're back. How was today?”

“It was good. Raj was showing me around Iacon. Hide, when's my next session with Blue?” Jazz was feeling extremely happy for some reason, but he didn't care all he wanted was for this feeling to last forever.

“Uh… tomorrow. You okay?” Ironhide was weirded out by the odd amount of happiness coming from Jazz's EM field. Jazz nodded and went into the kitchen to get his energon. The red mech followed him, sitting at the table.

“I'm fine, just happy that I was able to explore and move around.” He bounced in one spot with excitement. “And I guess it just ignited this… this feeling inside of me. And it feels amazing!” The Polyhexian threw his arms in the air as he did a small pirouette.

Ironhide laughed at the giddiness the mech was expressing. “Okay, okay calm down kid. I guess that explains why no one could find Mirage. He took over Black light's original position as head espionage agent.”

“Hide, do you know why the old Council wouldn't let them move to Iacon?” Jazz calmed down a little as he sat down across from him. “Light was going to send us to someone in Iacon, but who was it?”

“They wanted to keep Light on the move constantly, and at the time he was placed in Helix. All I remember him telling me was that he had gotten a tip on missing bots, and it was all over Cybertron. Then he found out about your Carrier being sparked, and that caused him to panic.” Ironhide explained what he could, picturing the gears turning in Jazz's processor. “I don't recall your Sire ever telling me that he was going to hide you two. Light, Prime, Magnus, Ratchet, and I were all good friends before the war. It could have been any of us that he was going to hide you with.”

The Polyhexian sipped his cube gently before setting it down softly. “I must've been a surprise to him, because I don’t see Light to be irresponsible enough to spark someone when he knew about the kidnappings. Was Soundwave really stealing that many sparklings to be on the Council's radar? And then he somehow found out about me, which meant I was the perfect blackmail item to keep him from reporting to the Council. If Light told the Council that he found out who was responsible for all of the missing creations, then they would be arrested for breaking the biggest law in Helix and I would have been killed.”

Jazz was unaware that he was slipping into his Autobot role. “Which meant that Soundwave had the Council's biggest asset wrapped around his digit. And when my creators tried to rescue me and were caught they thought they had gotten me killed. But why didn't Soundwave have his own creation from the start? Why convert a mech into a Host mech? I wish I knew what Soundwave was thinking!”

“Don’t think about it too much kid.” Ironhide gave Jazz's shoulder a supportive shake. The visored mech nodded as he rubbed his helm. “I'm glad to see that desk work hasn't killed you yet.”

The multicolored mech mockingly laughed while the red mech was actually laughing. “You're so funny, aft. Hey, could we see Ratchet sometime? It's kinda tight in here. Who knew being angry would get me to finally workout.” Jazz half chuckled before touching his arm plating.

“I think he'll be at Newgate the next couple solar cycles, but I'll see when he'll be at the hospital next.” Ironhide subtly hinted that he wasn't going to let Jazz go to Newgate for many obvious reasons. The Polyhexian nodded, getting the hint. “Haven't had any more panic attacks have you?”

Jazz finished his cube before answering. “Mm, no not any bad ones. Actually, they've kinda stopped now that I think about it. I don’t know what happened, but all that I've done is startle myself online.” He stood up and shrugged as he disposed of the empty cube. “I'm going to go recharge. Night Hide.”

“Night.” Ironhide said in confusion.

Once Jazz entered his quarters he sighed heavily. “I can't believe I actually did it. I don't want him to worry about me anymore. Maybe I can trick everyone into thinking I'm okay. Then I can get off this planet, and far away from… Prowl.” He kept it together decently before breaking down in the shower.

The Polyhexian removed his thigh plating and carved a glyph into his protoform. He drew the same glyph in any place he could hide with his armor. _Focus Jazz, close the bond. I don't want to hurt anyone again._ Jazz stared at his arm before covering it up again. “Used.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone, ranging from Special Forces to the Council, are trying to figure out what is going on with Jazz and his strange connection with the two mechs from Kaon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Emotioins; Destiny's Child

Ch. 12

Prowl was working on a casefile before his wings started twitching. He remained calm and continued to read update the file. “Hello Mirage.” The spy appeared in the seat in front of the Praxian. “What can I help you with?”

“I'm looking for a Praxian.” Mirage sat very noble-like. “Blue, can't be much older than twenty in Earth years, Iaconian. His wings look smaller than a standard Praxian.”

“Well can I know why you are looking for a Praxian in a city where Praxians typically reside in?” Prowl sat his file to the side and folded his servos on the desk. Mirage remained silent and Prowl got the hint. He started typing the description into his terminal, and it came up negative. “There isn't a Pra-. Mirage? I hate it when he does that.”

Mirage reappeared in an alleyway and commed the rest of Ops. ::No go on Praxus.::

::Same in Velocity.:: Trailbreaker said.

::No in Tarn.:: Hound replied.

::Bingo.:: Bumblebee said before rapid tapping. ::Meet up in Towers.::

::Agreed. Out.:: Mirage said before slowly lowering his servo from his comlink. “You don’t know who you're messing with.”

“Helping or destroying him?” A blade was pressed against Mirage’s neck. He went to grab for his blaster, but the mech behind him twisted his servo behind his back and pressed the blade closer to his neck. “Answer me! Helping or destroying him?”

“Who are you talking about?” Mirage wasn't going to risk going invisible when there wasn’t much wiggle room to escape. _Black light has been the only one to be able to do this. But, it can't be him._

“The one you all put in a hole for twenty years. You all damned him and his family because you were all cowards. Why did you get a second chance, but he begged for his and you all destroyed him? Made him a weak, coward. He has you all fooled that he's better, but I've seen into his helm. He's going to run far away from here.” The voice growled in anger and he pushed Mirage’s arm further up his back, getting him to drop to his knees. “Fix him or you'll have to deal with me.”

The moment the hold on Mirage loosened, he turned around in hopes to catch the mech's face. He looked around and slammed his fists into a puddle beside him with anger. Ops met up at their headquarters in the Prime Towers' lower level. The head agent showed everyone his encounter with the strange mech.

Hound replayed it at half the speed, Mirage knew to trust his mate when he noticed strange things. “What'd you find Hound?”

“Shh, listen to his intakes. Whoever this is, is wearing some kind of mask. The air is hitting something that is in front of his mouth. But, why does he want Jazz?” Hound asked as he leaned against the terminal with his arms crossed over his chest.

“He mentioned family, but Jazz doesn't have any surviving family. Not unless Light's in a new frame and has forgotten us.” Bumblebee pointed out before looking at Blurr. “Were you able to get any of Jazz's files from Newgate?”

“Yup, took a bit of digging. They have his files locked tighter than the corner turns on a racetrack. Even got vids of his cell.” Blurr tossed the scout a USB stick before resting his servos on his hips.

Bumblebee put the stick in the side of the hologram station that was in the middle of the room. _First this Praxian and now some other mech. Who are these new friends of yours Jazz?_ The Minibot couldn't get himself to hate Jazz too much when he found out what he was going to do to him. He knew his friend was just doing what he thought was best at keeping him safe and online. “Huh Council room footage? Jazz hasn't been in the Council room.”

 _“You destroyed a family, only mech that needs redemption is you Optimus Prime. I can see into your mind; the guilt is eating you up and your relationship with your mate is strained.”_ _The mech pointed an accusatory digit at the Prime._

_“Who are you?” Ultra Magnus went to stand and point his blaster, but the mech was quick to turn and point Jazz's rifle. It was awkwardly held, but still would have been an effective shot._

_“I… am Meister. Voice of the voiceless.”_ He revealed before the video stopped.

The Ops team looked at the still image of Meister in questioning disbelief. Bumblebee shook his helm and waved his arms in front of him. “They must think this is Jazz if it's in his file. Trail, can you run a comparison on them?”

“Who deactivated and made you leader?” Trailbreaker grumbled as he pressed a few buttons, and holograms of the two mechs appeared side-by-side. The black mech pointed out the more obvious differences. “Well Meister is a few feet shorter than Jazz; his paintjob isn't the same, wearing Light's mask, but his frame is designed almost identical to Jazz's.”

“If only we knew what was under that mask. This clearly isn't Jazz. Their voices aren't the same in tone, similar but not the same. And again, bringing up family, what family is he talking about?” Mirage rubbed his face with a frustrated groan. _Think Mirage, think. What did Jazz always say?_ Then he could hear the mech talk in his helm. “We might not be of the same CNA, but we are family. And family helps each other.”

The others looked at their leader with confusion. Mirage shook his helm and pulled up an image of Skids and Meister together. He activated a process that automatically highlighted the similarities between the two. One by one various parts of their frames were highlighted by black dots. “These mechs aren't after Jazz to kill him like we thought. They were trained like we were, when one of us is compromised we do what we have to fix them. That's what Meister meant in the Council meeting and in the alley; fix him. Family helps family!”

“Which means they know something that could help us get Jazz back. But, we still don't know where they're… Mirage, Hound turn around very slowly.” Blurr instructed before the other three mechs reached for their blasters.

The two mechs turned and saw Meister hanging from the ceiling sideways. His helm was tilted at an angle curiously before dropping to the ground. “How did you get in here? Furthermore, how did you find this place? Not-"

“Not even the Council knows about it. I put a tracer on you. And I got past your defenses, very much like the old defenses of Autobot HQ during the war. You will know who I am when you help Jazz, he knows who I am.”

“Who trained you?” Blurr asked the masked mech.

“The mech you damned. Family protects family, but you all have forgotten that rule until you decided it was worth remembering.” Meister pointed at them before throwing two flashbang grenades at their peds, disappearing while they were distracted.

When the bright lights were gone and their receptors were no longer ringing, they saw that Meister was gone. Mirage looked at Bumblebee and Blurr and ordered them, “get us any information on this mech. I just… Primus, I just wish I knew why Jazz did all of this. He has always been so secretive and ten steps ahead, so what did Jazz see or do to erase his memories of everything?”

“Got it.” The two mechs nodded and ran off.

Jazz was sitting in Bluestreak’s office with his servos gently touching the window. He had gotten there a few kliks early, waiting for Bluestreak to arrive for their session. The Polyhexian laid his helm against the window as a feeling bubbled up inside him, and he soon let it out.

_It's over and done_

_But the spark ache lives on inside_

_And who's the one you're clinging to_

_Instead of me tonight?_

_Ooo baby_

_And where are you now, now that I need you?_

_Tears on my pillow wherever you go_

_Cry me a river that leads to your ocean_

_You never see me fall apart_

_In the words of a broken spark_

_It's just emotion taken me over_

_Caught up in sorrow, lost in my soul_

_But if you don't come back_

_Come home to me, darling_

_Don't you know there's nobody left in this world_

_To hold me tight_

_Don't cha know there's nobody left in this world kiss goodnight_

_Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight_

Jazz wrapped his arms around himself and sighed heavily as he leaned against the windowpane. “Why so sad? Ironhide said you were so happy last night.” The Polyhexian looked up to see the steel blue mech walking in with the door closing behind him. Jazz sat down on the sofa across from Bluestreak with a small frown on his face. “Do you want to… talk about the party?”

“I was testing my acting ability, seemed to fooled Ironhide and Optimus into thinking that I’m whoever they think I am.” Jazz hugged his legs with a shaky sigh. “I just… I just wish Prowl was mech enough to just tell me he was done with me. Would have been easier instead of… of that!”

“Jazz, there’s something you need to know about that night. That femme Prowl was with, is Smokey’s girlfriend. Smokescreen forgot to turn his comlink on, and Prowl was just escorting her to him. When Ironhide came over and told us that you left, Prowl ran after you. Primus, he actually overcharged because he thinks he ruined any chance of being with you.” Bluestreak sat at his desk with his servos folded as he revealed what he could without crossing anymore boundaries than he already has.

The Polyhexian stared at Bluestreak with a servo covering his mouth. “He… He… He came after me? Blue, I… I… I made a big mistake. I don’t even know-” He laid his helm in his lap and rubbed his helm. “Blue, I don’t know if I’m ready to see Prowl. I’ve just gotten confident enough to pretend to be happy, and if I see him, I don’t know what’ll happen. I just want to get better and leave Cybertron. Get as far away as possible.” Jazz stood up and went back to the window with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Why do you want to leave Cybertron? All of your friends are here.” Bluestreak frowned, he was genuinely thinking they were making progress in his treatment. _I guess we wanted Jazz to come back._

“I don’t want to be constantly reminded of who I am! I’m _not_ the elusive, smooth-talking Jazz or whatever it is that was great about him.” Jazz looked at his peds with a frown. “I’m not spark mate material, especially when Prowl is a deputy. And maybe it’s best that we remain apart. I’ll only disappoint him.” The black and white mech rubbed his arm where his hidden carvings were.

Bluestreak stood up and went over to the mech with his arms folded under his chest plate. “I’m going to say a word and I want you to say the first word that comes to mind. There is no right or wrong answer.” Jazz nodded silently, waiting for the first word. “Sire.”

“Caring.” Jazz said immediately.

“Carrier.” Bluestreak answered with and saw the hesitation in the mech.

“Harmony.”

The mech followed the statement with solitude, which was answered with danger, then interface, which was replied with terrifying, Soundwave was replied with bastard, Autobots responded with honor, and finally the last word was family. Jazz was staring out the window in silence. Bluestreak repeated with more of a questioning tone, and the Polyhexian finally answered with a faraway look. “Protect. Ah… I… I need to protect my family.”

“Jazz, we’re all safe. You have nothing to protect us from.” The Praxian reached for his servos to try and calm him.

He shook his helm, “no not until we’re together again. All of us. My family isn’t safe yet.” Jazz looked at Bluestreak as he grabbed his servos. “The door is opening. The one we were thrown from; I know why I wanted that drone. Well not exactly, but I know its name; Data. I came to Iacon to get a medical drone for some reason.”

“This is amazing Jazz! Can I ask what helped you remember this?” Bluestreak’s wings fluttered excitedly. He led the visored mech back to the couches, and they sat back down while Jazz remained silent. “Jazz, I know it’s hard to want to talk about your feelings, but I can’t help you if you don’t do your part in helping yourself.”

“I thought of the sparkling I thought I had and how happy it made everyone on the ARK. When you and Smokey found out, you two were so thrilled when you thought you both were uncles.” Jazz sighed with guilt.

 _No, I can’t tell him. It has to be Prowl to tell Jazz about the spark Soundwave took._ Bluestreak leaned forward with a sympathetic smile on his face. “Jazz, it’s okay really. You don’t need to hold onto the blame anymore. None of it was your fault, and we all know that you would have been a good Carrier.”

“That’s what I was trained for, I guess. Stay at home, clean the house, make the energon, take care of the sparklings, and warm the berth.” Jazz rested his helm in his servo. “Guess that’s what happens when the mech that raised you has Carrier issues.”

 _Wait. What?_ Bluestreak’s wings flared when what Jazz had said had finally settled in his processor. “Wait what did you say? Carrier issues?”

He looked up from his deep thoughts, “Soundwave told me how terrible his Carrier was constantly overcharged and took a lot of synth-speed. But, that could all be a lie too like how my creators gave me up.”

“Hm, interesting. Is that why you don’t drink?” Bluestreak looked at the Polyhexian curiously. Jazz nodded as he shifted uncomfortably.

“Soundwave always told me that if I got overcharged it would mean that I wouldn’t be able to take care of the Cassetticons. And If I couldn’t take care of them then I would get punished hard for that.” He rubbed his right thigh which was caught by Bluestreak’s attention. Jazz noticed the mech staring and he removed the armor on his leg, revealing several long old welding marks on his inner thigh. “This was just a warning of what would happen if I ever overcharged.”

Bluestreak and Jazz were finishing up their session and Jazz looked at the datapad that had his set of instructions. _Do something to release pent up emotions, keep the bond open with Blaster and the Cassetticons a groon no matter how emotional you are. Easier said than done Blue._ The Praxian remembered something as Jazz was about to leave, “oh hold on Jazz. Ratchet and I were talking the other day, and we believe that if you want too, we can all talk about spark transfer. And I know a couple of prankster brothers and a couple racers that could help you with making a new frame.”

He turned to face the mech with his servo on the door. “Really?!” The visored mech asked excitedly. Jazz smiled with growing excitement and he nodded without much thought. “Thank you so much for this Blue, this means a lot to me. I’ll see you later.”

“You’re welcome Jazz. Hey, are you going to the festival in Helix? Heard Blaster and Bee were planning on going to the festival.” The steel blue mech said with excitement with his wings fluttering behind him.

“I’m hesitantly thinking about going, but it’s to find out more about my Carrier. Raj is helping me find out about her.” Jazz smiled before finally saying good-bye and headed home.

Optimus was leaving the towers with Elita, talking about plans later that cycle, before they saw an anxious Praxian pacing in front of the statue of the original thirteen Primes. They walked up to the strange mech and the Prime quickly recognized him from the party as the waiter from before. “Did you need help with something?”

The mech turned quickly, dropping datapads and other items on the ground. “Primus not again. Um… No, no I was just admiring the art…w-work. Ah Primus! Optimus Prime, Elita-One I am so sorry for bothering you too.” He started picking up his items with his wings moving nervously.

Elita-One knelt down and helped him up with a smile on her face. She had picked up a music pad that had notes and lyrics on it. “A music study? Where are you going to school?” She handed it to the mech as they stood up, seeing a strange familiarity in his optics.

“Uh yeah… My Carrier’s side of the family were music prodigies, and I wanted to follow them. I um… actually can’t afford any schools so I’m self-teaching. Working a couple different places and odd jobs to hopefully afford the musical arts school in Praxus.” He started fidgeting with a stylus in his servos. “I _really_ am sorry for disrupting your evening.”

“Why are you so nervous? Skids, right?” Optimus asked as he stood beside his sparkmate.

“Yeah that’s my name. Being around actual Autobots makes me nervous.” Skids said while he subspaced some of his items. “I should head back home before my brother sends our drone after me.” The mech jokingly said with his wings flexing behind him. “Not that Autobots terrify me or anything, it’s more like I admire the cause and what you’ve all done, but I’m just a normal mech talking to Bots that saved the planet. And it just makes me nervous.”

“Have you thought about joining the Autobots? The war may be over, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t still accept bots for explorations and such.” Elita said with a smile still on her face.

Skids’s wings flared and he looked surprised by the question. “My Carrier would turn me into rust if he found out I signed up. He made me promise him I would _never_ join in the fight. Which is a disappointment because both of my Creators were Bots.” The young mech squeaked and covered his mouth with that look as if he revealed a secret not meant to be said. “I mean they supported the Bots. I um… I gotta go. Thanks, I mean sorry.”

The Praxian quickly rushed off, leaving the two Councilors standing there in confusion. Optimus looked at his mate with a tilt of his helm. “That mech is so strange.”

“Agreed. So, have you or Magnus found any more about this Meister? Or why Jazz would do that?” The femme asked her mate as they decided to walk to their large manor in the heart of uptown Iacon.

“No, but it seems that we're not the only ones looking into it. When I went to go look into Jazz's files at Newgate, his file was missing. Red Alert looked at the security footage. And a blue blur was seen in and out of there.” Optimus said with a tone of uncertainty.

Elita gave her mate a strange look. “We didn't order Mirage or his team to look into him, did we?”

“No, so why would they break into a secure prison without telling me or someone on the council?” Optimus wondered, knowing that he was going to need to have a conversation with Mirage.

Ironhide was looking at the camera recordings that were hidden in Jazz’s quarters. He was drinking a cube of high grade with nothing interesting to see, besides Jazz talking in his stasis and looked in distress. About to give up, Ironhide only stopped when he saw the shadow of Jazz’s window opening. “The kid wasn’t lying. He is being watched.”

The mech slowed down recording and watched a white Polyhexian climb through the window. He looked very calm as if he had been there multiple times and made a beeline towards Jazz. Ironhide watched the mech climb into the berth and start hushing the whimpering mech. “You look so familiar.”

“It’s okay, shh I’m here now. I’m sorry for being late, I had to throw the Council off our scent. They’ve already ruined our family, but you say to trust them, so I’ll trust them.” The mech said while rubbing Jazz’s horns as he got into the berth. He reached behind their helms, grabbing their hardline cables, and connected them together.

“Why are you hardlining with the kid? Who are you, come on let me see your face.” Ironhide was impatiently tapping his digit on his desk as he watched the white Polyhexian curl up beside Jazz. His friend was ceasing his whimpers and was actually wrapping an arm around the strange Polyhexian. “I should tell Prime about this.”

Jazz was standing in front of the door with the Autobot insignia on it. He was staring at his two personas with his servos shaking. “Why can’t I look? This is my body and I should be able to look into whatever memories I want?” The Polyhexian went for the door and tried to open it, but the knob wouldn’t budge. He tried several times before finally giving up, “I just want to know why.”

“You’ll know why when you accept who you are.” The collared Jazz persona put a servo on his chest. He walked to him and put a servo around his neck before swaying his body like a snake and leaned close to his receptor. “You still want Prowl, but you’re afraid he’ll abandon you again. You know no one could ever treat you like Soundwave did. You’ve heard the things the others say when you head to work, did you expect respect even if Prowl _wanted_ you? Accept the fact that you’re a used frame, no one but Soundwave could ever love you, and you might as well work in a pleasure house.”

The Autobot persona stepped up and pulled the other away, shaking Jazz’s shoulders to snap him out of it. “No, don’t listen tah dat voice. Listen tah meh, Smokey said dat Prowler could explain what happened at dah party. We have tah at least give Prowler dah chance tah explain himself. Deep down ya know ya don’t want tah have dah life Soundwave gave us. What would dat monster do tah dah sparklin’s we had? Blue said we could have a new frame _and_ a new protoform when we’re ready, we don’t have tah have dah physical scars anymore.”

“But what if Prowl _does_ leave me again? I don’t want to be spark broken again. No one could possibly love a mech that was used to interface since their first heat cycle.” Jazz started crying softly before a warm feeling wrapped around him, and a door replaced the _forbidden door_. “What’s this?”

“Walk through dat door and tell meh dat ain’t a sign dat what we had with Prowler wasn’t real.” The Autobot version said before the other version gave his two cents.

He shook his helm and another door appeared beside the door. “Walk through this door and try to tell yourself that Prowl gave two scraps about you.”

Jazz felt a blanket of warmth wrap around him as he struggled to choose which door to go through. He was reaching for the second door before something pushed him towards the first door. There Jazz was standing in the middle of his quarters inside the ARK, and there was him and Prowl laying in the berth.

_“Jazz, what is wrong? You’ve been upset looking all day. Did I do something?” Prowl pushed himself upwards to look at the distant looking mech beside him. The mech in question looked up at his lover after snapping from his thoughts. “If I did something to hurt you, then tell me. Honesty and being open with each other is what spark mates do.”_

_Jazz sat up before climbing on Prowl’s lap. He had a secret he wanted to tell his partner and lover, but he was terrified of what his Master would do if he ever found out. “Ah’m sorry for worryin’ ya Prowler. Ah just am fightin’ my inner voices on meh not bein’ a suitable spark mate.”_

_“Well perhaps my voice will calm your nerves? I am calculating an eighty percent that you will make an amazing spark mate for me. The other twenty percent is calculated to being a great mate for me. Jazz, do not worry so much, if anything I’m afraid I’m not a suitable mate for you.” The Praxian kissed the Polyhexian with a purr, wrapping his arms around him._

_Jazz hugged him back with a smile and gently rubbed his horn against Prowl’s face. “Thank ya so much Prowl for lovin’ meh.”_

_“No, thank you so much for loving me and letting me love you.”_

Jazz sat up with a small cry and looked around while panting heavily. He heard soft music playing from the distance like every lunar cycle. The Polyhexian rubbed his helm before feeling his hardline cable hit his back. _Why is that out?_ He quickly put it away and contemplated on whether or not to tell Blaster about this. Jazz went to his shower, quickly cleaning himself off, and went to the kitchen. _Did I somehow do it?_ He was leaning against the counter in thought.

“Wow, you’re up early.” Ironhide was walking in when he saw the black and white mech refueling. He saw how nervous Jazz’s posture was before he looked up at Ironhide, and a smile appeared on his face. _Hm._

“I couldn’t recharge. I wasn’t loud, was I?” He hopped on the counter while setting the cube beside him. The visored mech lightly kicked his legs in thought before looking at Ironhide with a curious tone in his voice. “Hide, have you met my Carrier?” He knew a bit about her because Black light had talked about her whenever they were in the sniper nest talking.

“I’ve met Torch a couple times, very sweet femme but she was very spunky at the same time. Torch once threatened to knock me down if I didn’t keep Light safe.” The red mech chuckled while he crossed the room to get his own energon. “Primus, she had some fire in her when it came to Light’s safety.”

Jazz snickered at the thought, “She sounds fun. I wish I had the chance to meet her properly. Maybe gain some of that confidence to feel better about myself. Remember that mission to the jungles in Asia? Primus, I don't know what Prime was thinking about pairing us up with Tracks and Sunstreaker. The entire trip was about their paintjob; kept me amused though.”

“I wanted to smack their helms together once they started complaining about their rotors sticking from the mud. They're still whiners, Mirage isn't as bad anymore now that Hound drags his aft out to the tar pits.” Ironhide leaned against the counter adjacent from the Polyhexian.

“I could probably go on about Earth, all of my good memories were there. I miss it there; I could just drive for miles without much thought.” Jazz gave a distant half chuckle before drinking from his cube again.

Ironhide nodded thoughtfully before looking at Jazz and spoke. “Well Fortress Maximus is stationed there, maybe next time I have work there I'll bring you with.”

“Wha- really? You'd bring me to Earth? That would be _amazing_ to be able to see Earth again; race in the dunes or look at the stars without a care.” He smiled at the thought of racing under the night sky with a gentle breeze, but then it faltered when Prowl crossed his thoughts. Jazz shook his helm as he hopped back onto the counter, “I’m going to the roof.”

Surprised by the sudden declaration, Ironhide didn’t stop him leave in the middle of their conversation. Jazz left the house and scaled the wall before sitting down with a sigh. The Polyhexian was watching some jets fly overhead before he felt the brush of an EM field. “Raj, whatever you're here for I can't help you.”

“Maybe not you, but your training could. There's someone of interest to me and I wish to have a friendly conversation with, but he doesn't exist in the database of Iacon or Praxus how do I go about finding him?” Mirage appeared sitting beside Jazz in the same position as him.

Jazz gave him a weirded outlook but shook his helm and answered the question anyways. “Well Kaon would be a start, they allowed _anything_ there. There were laws, but they weren't taken too serious except for the three cardinal rules every citizen of Kaon had to follow. No touching a slave or pleasure bot without their owner's permission, no killing outside of revenge or self-defense, and absolutely do not spark up an Iaconian.” _That's why I felt safe in Kaon even though I was treated like scrap. As long as I was Soundwave's, nobody could touch me._

“But this mech I'm looking for, is Iaconian.” The blue and white mech added, obviously wanting more information.

“Don't matter, if you have identification of living in Kaon you are safe under those three rules. Though, there is this neat club/diner that a lot of Kaonites liked to go to make some… extra creds. It was called _Twisted Spark_ or something like that, I don't remember, only went there with Halifax when I was paying debts.” He chuckled exasperatedly. “As much of a perv Halifax was, he treated me so much better than Soundwave ever did. Mech was seriously old enough to be Hide's or Ratchet's Sire, and even tried to free me from Soundwave before he… he was killed.”

“Jazz, it's okay. Thank you for the information, I'll stop by with the others and we'll go out and party or something.” Mirage jokingly said before disappearing from view. _Twisted Spark huh? Maybe Sunstreaker and Sideswipe can help me out. I'll find out whoever you are Skids._


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Council get closer to finding out why Skids and Ricochet have so much interest in Jazz. Jazz get's hospitalized and bumps into Prowl.

Ch. 13

“Optimus, I think these are for you.” Jazz sat the small box and vase of crystal flowers on the Prime's desk before going back to his desk without a word.

Optimus thought it was odd that Elita had gotten him a gift and looked at the data card. _Interesting approach Prowl._ “Uh Jazz, these aren't for me. They are yours.” He stood up and delivered them to the stunned Polyhexian's desk. “If I may give you a suggestion, talking is much better than simply ignoring it. I can see it on your face that you want to talk to him. You may be surprised by the results.”

The visored mech took the extended data card silently. _I've been hurt too many times by the fantasy of love._ He looked at the card quietly with spark clenching tightly as emotions were building up. “I don't want to get hurt again Optimus.”

“Isolating yourself from the situation, hiding from it, is only hurting yourself. Just think about it.” The red and blue mech put a supportive servo on the other's shoulder. He went back to his desk, getting back to work. Jazz looked at the lavender crystals that were in the vase. He picked up the box, his servo shaking slightly before opening it with his spark pulsing hard when he saw a pair of wing ornaments. Sitting on top of the ornaments was a memory chip.

 _Is he trying to court me? Or is this an apology gift? What's the meaning behind these? How do I respond to this? What's on the chip?_ Jazz closed the small box and subspaced it. _Blaster, what do I do?_

 _Do what ya think is right, but ya should see what is on dat chip and hear Prowl out before makin' a decision._ Blaster said through the bond before going to go visit Soundwave for the umpteenth time. Soundwave was stroking Ravage's helm, but that was his only symbiont out. “Hello Blaster, come to try and convince my creations to have Host bond with you? My pet must have grown a spinal strut, I can't feel him.”

 _Didn't he feel Jazz break it?_ Riverdance asked Blaster in confusion. _When Slam and I broke our bonds with original Host, he still felt it._

“Ah can't save ya, it's clear dat yer beyond savin' just like Megatron. But Magnus and Prime are willin' tah give all of yer minis another chance. Ya may not have loved Jazz, but Ah know for a slaggin' fact dat ya care for yer creations. Let meh save ‘em.” Blaster stood in front the clear cell door. “Ravage, ya'll are dah reason Soundwave didn't feel it.”

That caught Soundwave's attention and he looked at the feline in his lap. “Feel what? What did you do to my pet?!” The blue mech stood in front of his brother with a growl.

“Jazz ain't yers no more. Yer right about one thing, he grew a spinal strut. He broke his bonds with ya, and he doesn't want tah have ya back.” Blaster said before leaving Soundwave, hearing him bang on the cell door while screaming.

The red mech was heading back to his condo, but he stopped when he saw a drone standing on the sidewalk across the street. He wouldn't have paid much mind to it, except that it was a medic drone and was holding a sign with his name on it. Blaster crossed the street before any more traffic came. “Do Ah know ya?”

“My patient wished to speak to you and spymaster Mirage in private. He resides in Kaon, where the new market is located. I apologize for the secrecy, but I follow patient-medic confidentiality protocols and cannot discuss further without his permission. Have a good day Autobot Counselor Blaster.” He bowed his helm before turning and leaving the mech in the middle of the sidewalk.

 _I'll go follow him._ Steeljaw said, knowing that Blaster wasn't going to just let him leave there. The feline transformed and ran off to find the drone. “Why meh and Raj? Ah don't know anyone in Kaon. Do Ah?” He scratched his helm in confusion, and commed Optimus for his orders.

After Blaster told the Prime what happened, the mech was quiet before answering. ::Does your telepathy work on drones?::

::No, but drones can transfer information through touch.:: The mech asked as he got into the elevator of his building.

::That'll be alright, just be careful Blaster.:: Optimus said with concern for his friend.

::Aren't Ah always?:: He joked with the Prime. _Hey Jazz, ya want tah come over after yer shift?_

 _Can't, I apparently have Bee and Raj coming over. Something about Europe?_ Jazz sounded confused by the request as he read the message that was on his screen. He didn't know what they could possibly want to know about a mission from twenty years ago. _They could just access the data logs from Telatraan._

“Dat's right Telatraan is hooked up tah every terminal and database on Cybertron!” Blaster smacked his forehelm in realization at the simple solution. “What do ya mean he doesn’t exist? We all saw him!?”

“There is no Cybertronian with designation Meister, I apologize Blaster.” Telatraan had ran several scans when Blaster came to the towers, where he was now stationed in the communications sector.

 _Well there goes dat plan. Ugh._ He tapped his chin in thought before snapping his digits with a smile. “What about a Praxian named Skids?” The terminal started scanning Cybertron before coming up with a result. “Oh, dear Primus. Dah others are gonna need tah see dis.”

::Emergency Council meetin’. Drop everythin’ right now.:: Blaster downloaded the data into a data chip. The mech sent Eject and Rewind to go keep an optic on Jazz while they talked about the mech that wasn’t exactly who pretended to be. _Dis is a doozy_.

The Council all sat in their spots and Blaster put the chip in a small slot in front of him. A large 3D hologram of Skids appeared and then a list of his basic info, along with a decent list of crimes beside his image. Ironhide didn’t like what he was reading, and the others were equally disturbed. “Second-in-Command of the rebellion. Rebellion for what?”

“A Kaonite, like Sunstreaker and Sideswipe? Aren’t they in Kaon for the stellar cycle? We should ask them about what’s going on in Kaon, maybe they’ll get us some insight of what is going on there. Or maybe we could send Mirage or Bumblebee?” Ultra Magnus asked as he tapped a holographic button in front of him. “Owned by a… Ricochet, Tarn Native Polyhexian that lives in the upstate area in Kaon. Telatraan pull up records on Ricochet.”

Another hologram pulled up beside Skids’s and it was a mech that had a black torso and black legs while the majority of his arms and peds were white. He had a pair of gold visor and looked like your run-of-the-mill Polyhexian. “Owner of Kaonite Praxian Skids, leader of Kaon rebellion, and owner of _Twisted Spark_.” Ratchet slowly spun Ricochet’s hologram around slowly before stopping to think a few things through.

“But the question is why do they want Jazz? Why haven’t we heard about a rebellion?” Hot Rod looked at Optimus and Elita, noticing the disappointed looks in their optics. “What’s got you two so upset?”

“We had run into Skids in front of the monument of the original Primes, and he looked extremely nervous when we talked. Really skittish, how can he be a leader in some sort of rebellion?” Elita questioned in confusion.

Ironhide gave his input on the femme’s question, “Jazz sure fooled us Elita. And also, I thought that the kid was just hearing things, but someone has been hardlining with him every lunar cycle since he’s been with me.”

“You’re wrong.” A voice caused everyone to turn around to see Mirage walk up to the table and deactivated the holograms. “Scold me later Optimus. These two mechs have been hardlining with Jazz for the past twenty years. And there’s more, all of those that were forcing themselves on my _friend_ , they all were found castrated. And the Cons that were in the courtyard, were found mentally broken in their cells.” The mech played one of the recordings Blurr had found.

_The guards had left Jazz’s cell, and the two mechs dropped from the ceiling almost professionally with minimal sound. The Polyhexian entered the code to Jazz’s cell with the Praxian humming softly to the panicked mech in the corner. Ricochet knelt down beside the fluid covered mech while pulling cleaning products out from his subspace. “Jazz, it’s okay we’re going to make them pay for what they did to you. Just relax and let us help you.”_

_“Wh-Who are you?” Jazz’s question was left unanswered before Skids put him into a stasis lock. The Praxian looked up at the mech across from him with his wings flicking nervously. “Rico, it’s getting worse every time we come see him. We need to get him out of this Pit before he ends up like scrap.”_

_“I know Skids, but we were ordered to let this run its course. He’s confident that Optimus is going to fix this, and all we can do is make sure he’s safe. Come on, help me clean up all of this before it hardens.” The mech tossed the mech a cloth before getting to work. “Skids, he’s freaking out.”_

_“Okay, okay sheesh you don’t need to act like you own me.” Skids started humming softly while wiping away the transfluid and energon. They were both careful with cleaning off Jazz’s fragile frame. Ricochet crawled to one of the corners where a half empty cube sat and started connecting an energon drip to the prisoner’s wrist. Skids looked like he was struggling to keep it together. “Rico, I don’t understand how could they let this happen to him? I thought our Sire-”_

_“Your Sire, not mine. That bastard will never be seen as my Sire, not until he apologizes for everything.” Ricochet said with a growl before sitting against the wall with Jazz reclined against his frame. “You know the rules, five kliks each. Get whatever information you can, and then give it to Data for safe keeping.”_

_“I know Rico, I just… what are we going to do if his plan fails and he never remembers? Never remembers saving us?” The Praxian bowed his helm with his wings drooped._

_Ricochet took the other’s servo, getting him to look up, and smiled softly. “I won’t let that happen; I promise. Family has each other’s back.”_

Ratchet was even more confused and frustrated with the situation. “I don’t understand, Jazz _never_ once mentioned this and what plan!? Who’s Data? If Jazz saved these mechs, why didn’t he mention them during the war?” He was getting himself more riled up with anger, not aimed at Jazz entirely, but more at Jazz being a pain in the aft with his memories.

“A lot of his memories durin’ dah war are blocked. What got my attention is dat dis Ricochet’s reaction to the word Sire, he looked very angry. How have they been gettin’ in and out of Newgate without anybody knowing?” Blaster felt a slam of emotions coming from Jazz’s side of the bond. _Jazz? J, what is it? Jazz talk tah meh._

 _Someone c-called me a… a name in front of the twins._ Jazz’s confidence had plummeted, and Blaster had to block the emotions from the others while calming him down. _I can’t do this Blaster, I can’t. This is all a game that I don’t want to play anymore. Just melt me for scrap._

 _Ya can do it Jazz, Ah believe in ya. Ah’ll come see ya after dis emergency meetin’, but in dah mean time dah twins will comfort ya. Can ya do dat for meh?_ Blaster let Jazz hold onto the bond, feeling the uncertainty coming from him. _Dah meetin’ ain’t gonna be long, just a few kliks._ Jazz sent a silent confirmation. Blaster was comforting the Polyhexian as much as he could now. Nobody seemed to had notice Blaster’s sudden silence and were discussing another recording. This time it was Skids and Meister walking in front of one of the upper level cells.

_“This is the mech. What are you going to do him?” Skids asked Meister with his wings flicking behind him. Meister unlocked the door with his hardline cable falling into his servo; the prisoner was backing up with servos out in front of him. The masked mech knocked the much larger mech to the ground with his engines revving. “Don’t strain yourself, you’ve already hardlined with the other mechs involved. Oh, don’t start with me, Carrier told us not to get involved any more than what we are told. I know, I know… fine just hurry up before the patrol comes.”_

_Meister hardlined with the mech with Skids pacing in front of the cell. He looked like he was frustrated and pulled the mech away and helped him out of the cell before closing it. The masked mech started coughing while the Praxian helped him remove his mask. He fell to the ground with energon splattering the ground. “Slag it, I told you not to push yourself. Come on we need to get you back to Kaon.”_

Blaster knew what this was, “Processor overload.”

“What?” Magnus looked at the red mech curiously.

“Meister has processor overload. It’s somethin’ telepathics get when they aren’t properly trained. When they repeatedly enter someone else’s processor; even Ah get one when Ah get overcharged and my barriers drop. Dat medical drone dat found meh, said somethin’ about his patient.”

Ratchet instantly jumped into the conversation, “how does someone get your ability?”

“CNA. One of his creators has tah be a Host, but Soundwave and Ah never sparked anyone.” Blaster said with confusion. “Only sparklin' dat Ah know Soundwave sired, was dah one we all thought was a false sparkin'. And it deactivated.”

Mirage tapped on Ironhide's touch pad, pulling up the security footage of their HQ. “This Meister has had training, and this flip and movement where he rolls his frame. It was something Jazz did during the war to look more threatening. Skids is an actor like Jazz is, and Ricochet… what type of training did Jazz give him? Why would Jazz keep three mechs a secret?”

The hologram of Meister unclipping from the ceiling and then flipped to the ground replayed again. He slowly rose and tried to look intimidating. _“Family protects family, but you all have forgotten that rule until you decided it was worth remembering.”_

“Hmm… what if we draw out Skids? He seems to be infatuated with Jazz.” Elita suggested with her gaze looking at the mechs. “Any ideas?”

Blaster started typing and a hologram of a brochure appeared. “There's a music festival at dah end cycle. Ah can take Jazz with meh there; he'll be out in public, but Ah'll be with J tah make sure he is safe.”

Hot Rod went to speak, but Mirage spoke quickly. “I'll send Bumblebee to keep an optic out for Meister or Ricochet.”

“Wait, wait, wait you are wanting to use Jazz as bait to draw out a telepathic, spy, and their slave? Won't that be suspicious?” Hot Rod finally got a word in before anyone else could interrupt.

“Ah can block anyone from Jazz, and Preceptor can build Bee a spare buffer dat he can keep on him.” Blaster said before adding and looked at the others. “And if Meister shows up, he'll be too weak tah use his telepathy on anyone for long.”

After a bit of planning, Mirage disappeared and informed his team what will happen. Blaster used the bond to find Jazz on the top of the roof. He was sitting on the ledge with his shoulders shaking. “J man, are ya okay?” The Host sat beside him with his twins transforming into his cassette deck. “Don't let ‘em get tah ya. Everyone gets talked about.”

“I-I… I want Ratchet to shut it all off. Remove it all, to take away the pain.” Jazz covered his face as he broke down in tears again. “He's still all I can think about. If it's all go-gone, then I-I can leave Cybertron without pain.”

“Remove what? Jazz, dah minis and Ah want ya tah be with us. Yer my family.” Blaster grabbed his shaking servos, giving them a small squeeze.

“My interface array, gestational tank, and my emotions. All of it gone. They're right about me, all I'm good for is fragging.” Jazz refused to look at Blaster with his face still wet.

Blaster wrapped his arms, letting him release all of his emotions. “Keep ‘em, once it's removed there ain't no turnin' back. And Ah know dat ya don't really mean it, or ya wouldn't have asked Hatch' tah turn yer Carrier program on.”

The Polyhexian looked at the high suns quietly. He clenched his servos tightly in his lap with a shaky intake. _“Master Jazz, the twins have been doing extraordinarily well in training.”_ Jazz's helm shot up with a gasp, but quickly stored away this new memory. He put a servo to his chest in thought, thinking about the gift he got from Prowl, and a faint smile appeared on his face. “Okay, I'll keep them.”

“Ya won't regret it Jazz. And hey, Ah got dah time off and dah tickets for dah festival. Ya excited?” Blaster smiled at his friend with excitement in his EM field. Jazz hummed and rubbed his arm quietly.

“I'm more nervous, but… I am a little excited for the inspiration.” Jazz said with almost a grin on his face. He jumped onto his peds with a deep intake as if he was about to sing, but nothing came. “There is so much I want to sing about, but my soul… it's confused.”

The other mech stood up and took his servo with a supportive squeeze. “What is dah first emotion ya feel? Have ya gone tah see Blue lately?”

“First emotion I feel? I feel terrified. I'm scared of disappointing Optimus and Ironhide if I can't get better. Blue has me scheduled for a meta-cycle out.” Jazz looked up at the suns with his EM field flickering with sadness. “I've failed the twins once, not again.”

 _Twins? Wait what?_ Blaster looked ahead of him in confusion, and then turned his helm to look at his friend with a tilt of his helm. “Dah twins?”

Jazz shook his helm as if he was somewhere else. “What?”

“Ya said dat ‘ya failed dah twins once, and ya wouldn't do it again.’” Blaster repeated with confusion.

“No, I didn't. I should head back down.” The blue visored mech jumped of the ledge, and head for the roof door. Blaster was further confused by what happened but followed his friend. Jazz hummed softly before several of the older employees all handed him stacks of datapads. “Wai- hey! Primus I'm not… whatever.”

Blaster saw how the others just treated Jazz, and what really shocked him was that Jazz didn't stand up for himself. “J, yer not really thinkin' of doin' their workload. Are ya?”

“Can't do anything about it. See you later Blaster.” He adjusted the stack before going to the Prime's office and started doing the work. Jazz chuckled as he thought of how Prowl would have enjoyed seeing him actually doing desk work. _If only you could see me now._

Solar cycles had flown, and Ironhide was waiting for Jazz at the entrance of the tower. It was the only day that they worked the same shift, and groons had passed when he started worrying. Optimus saw his friend standing there impatiently, so he went over to him. “Ironhide, I thought you had gone home groons ago?”

“Hey Prime, have you seen the kid? I was waiting for him, but I haven't seen him.” Ironhide was worried for Jazz earlier that cycle. He saw how quiet the Polyhexian was, and thought it was strange because he hadn't been doing any of the self-claimed cleaning or making his snacks as much. “He's been acting weird all week, and today he just left for work.”

“I saw him leave the office, maybe he went home ahead of you?” Optimus suggested out of comfort.

Ironhide didn’t like how this was sitting with him. “Maybe you're right.” He looked up and saw a group of two femmes and two mechs were all snickering. One of the mechs had tossed something into the bin near the two councilors. Ironhide cautiously went to it and saw a pair of cyan visors sitting on top of the trash. “Those slaggers.”

He chased after the group, excepting them to be laughing still, but what he wasn't expecting was seeing the mech known as Ricochet leaping in the air and doing a spinning kick at one of the femmes.

“You touch Jazz again, and I'll rip your sparks out of your chests! Do you understand me!? Let this be a warning before you see the rage of a Tarn native!” He straddled one of the mech's chest and started punching him violently in the face.

“Hey kid!” Ironhide foolishly shouted, getting Ricochet's attention quickly. The Polyhexian jumped off of the Iaconian, and Ironhide felt extremely heavy. “Hey, wait. I just… want to… talk.” The red mech collapsed and fell to his knees.

When Ironhide onlined, he was looking up at Ratchet's face. “Would prefer seeing Chromia's face, not your ugly mug. Ow it was a joke.” He covered his arm when he was smacked by the wrench. “Where's the kid?”

“After you chased after whoever took Jazz's visors, Optimus went to go find Jazz. He found him tied up on the roof with his arm dislocated and his visors removed. That's not even the worst thing they did; they strapped audio sleeves over his horns and played loud vibrations and white noise directly into his audio horns.” Ratchet explained as he sat Ironhide up slowly before grabbing a cloth and dabbed under Ironhide's nasal ridge. “What happened to you?”

“I don't know. I went after the four punks and saw Ricochet beating the slag out of them. It seems he didn't like Jazz being hurt.” The red mech rubbed his helm from the harsh processor ache he had. “Where is he?”

“In the next room over in stasis. Blaster hasn't left his side since I commed him over. I want you staying until tomorrow, you hit your helm pretty bad.” Ratchet explained while handing his friend a cube of energon. “Come on, you can go see him.”

Jazz looked at the wall on his left in silence. Blaster had gone to go get him energon after he onlined. The door opened, but he refused to look at who it was. “Jazz, it's Ironhide. How are ya? Where'd Blaster go?” The multicolored mech looked over his shoulder with his blind optics blazed with fury. He turned back with a hiss of pain when he used his one good arm to push himself upright. “I'm sorry for what they did to you.”

“I wish I could lie and tell you that I'm fine, but I'm not fine. I was torn apart again; I was forced to relive that day all over again! They hated that I was getting all of Optimus’s attention and was given a good job, but what is so good about it!? The last thing I saw before my visors were taken from me again, I saw you all. I just wish everyone would just leave me alone!” Jazz started ripping out everything that was attached to him. Ratchet was quick to stop him from pulling out everything. “Leave me alone Ratchet! No one wants me around!”

The Polyhexian started kicking and flailing his arms in rage. Blaster came rushing in when he felt the rage through the bond. “Hey, hey back off yer scarin' him. Jazz, Jazz it's okay.” He pushed through the two mechs, pulling the mech in his arms, and Jazz clung to Blaster tightly and he started bawling. “It's aight J, dah Council will take care of dis. Ah can protect ya Jazz, but Ah need ya tah have our bond open. Ah should've been there tah help ya, Ah'm so sorry for not bein' there.”

“Ah…. Ah… I need to be alone for a bit. Please?” Jazz quietly begged the three mechs. Blaster didn't want to leave Jazz alone and Ratchet most definitely wasn't going to grant Jazz's wish. “I need to think.”

 _Blaster, we'll have Ironhide outside of his room._ Ratchet let Blaster know what was happening, as to ease his worry. The mech reluctantly nodded before letting Jazz know he would be back in the morning. When they left the room, Ratchet told Ironhide to stay there for the lunar cycle. When morning rolled around, one of the nurses went to check up on Jazz, but when she opened the door the femme quickly rushed off to find Ratchet.

Ironhide looked into the room when the medic and nurse were running back. Ratchet went into the room and saw the window wide open. “Ironhide, you were supposed to be watching him! Harpy call for a code yellow. I need to call the enforcers.”

“I was listening, he wasn't making any sounds.” Ironhide argued with his friend and he ran after them. “Jazz couldn't have gone very far, he can't see.”

::Code yellow. Code yellow.:: The femme Harpy called over the intercom.

Ratchet used the external comms and called the enforcers. “Yes, this is head medic Ratchet from Iacon General hospital. I have a missing patient. His name is Jazz, yes that Jazz. He was admitted into the hospital because coworkers attacked him. No, do not hang up on-” Ratchet threw the comm back on its holder with a bit of force. “Fragging great! They won't look for a missing mech. Ironhide, get Blaster.”

In Praxus, Prowl was driving home after a long day at work. He drove past the playground that was on his way home, but he came to a screeching halt when something odd was in his rearview mirror. _Jazz!?_ The mech quickly did a u-turn and drove back to the playground. There sitting on a swing was the black and white Polyhexian with his spark exposed and his servo hovering over it.

 _No, not again._ Prowl transformed and ran to stop him from hurting himself. “Jazz!” His shout got the mech's attention immediately, but he couldn’t escape the mech. The Praxian tackled him to the ground, his servos forced the chest plate closed. “J-Jazz it's really you. What happened to your visors? Your arm's dislodged. Did you do this to yourself?”

“P-P-Prowl.” Jazz went still when he heard his unmistakable voice. Coolant was instantly flowing, and he started feeling sick with stress. He reached out for his face, to make sure he wasn't crazy, and when he felt Prowl's face Jazz moved away when he suddenly felt every emotion explode from him. “Where were you twenty years ago?! I waited for you, called for you, fragging begged you to help me! And you left me! You bastard!”

Prowl wasn't expecting to be yelled at and was stunned when Jazz punched him perfectly in the face. “Jazz, I'm sorry for that. I really am. I've been trying to see you to apologize for what I did to you. When I saw your trial, I crashed so hard I could have deactivated after seeing you nearly extinguish your spark. Please believe me.”

“Why should I believe you!? You promised me slag it Prowl! You promised you'd be with me no matter what! Why should I believe that you won't do it again?! I've been begging everyone to let me see you. You never came to see me, why?!” Jazz stood up and continued to shout as the ground beneath him was sprinkled with his tears.

“I wanted to see you, but they all told me that it would deteriorate your success of recovery. I know I broke so many promises, and it has been eating at me since the end of the war. Please just give me a second chance.” Prowl rose with Jazz and went to touch his servo, but Jazz managed to tackle him to the ground. He was shouting as he started punching his chest, but with each punch they got weaker and his sadness was growing.

The blind mech slid off of him, curling up as he cried into his servos. Prowl sat up and touched his shoulder after a few minutes of thought. “Jazz, for so long I became more of an introvert. I never went to social events, worked until my commander tells me to leave, only drinking energon when I thought of you. Since you and all of the Decepticons were placed in Newgate, I tried to visit you, but I was afraid of what you would say.”

“Move on Prowl.” Jazz laid there limply with his servos clenched tightly in front of his chest. “I knew you didn't want a broken frame. I'm used, broken, I have no belief in love. You knew how much you meant to me, you knew how much of myself means to me, and you broke me. I hope you're happy with yourself. You're just like Soundwave.”

Prowl's battle computer started crunching numbers, but he wasn't going to let it win. He pulled the mech into his arms. “I do not want to move on from you Jazz. What can I do to convince you that I still want you in my life? I will do _anything_ Jazz.”

“Why don’t you want to move on from me? Find a good Praxian that isn’t fragged in the processor and isn’t a whore. I can’t make you happy.” Jazz covered his optics, but Prowl held onto him with his wings twitching. The Polyhexian took that as Prowl’s silent hint that he wasn’t going to let him be alone. “I-I… Prowl if you _really_ want to be in my life, then make me this one promise. One slagging promise is all I want, and if you break this promise I am leaving Cybertron and never coming back. Do you understand me?”

 _Leave Cybertron?_ Prowl continued to hold onto Jazz with fear, “I understand. What is it Jazz?”

“When Ratchet fix my visors, I want to keep our… whatever this is, strictly in letters until I’m ready. I want you to promise me that you will write back to me no matter what. I just need time to be okay and get on my own peds.” Jazz instructed as he pulled away from Prowl. The Polyhexian knew that he was going to get his aft chewed out by Ratchet for running away, but he needed time to think about his situation.

“Letters? I can do that. I promise to keep this promise; I will write to you no matter what scenario. Ratchet doesn’t know you are here, does he?” Prowl asked and he was answered with a shake of his helm. The Praxian stood up slowly as he took Jazz’s servo in his own. “Come on then, let’s get you back to the hospital. Did you like the gift I gave you?”

Jazz nodded with a small smile as he recalled the gifts he got. He kept a bit of a distance from Prowl as they made their long walk to Iacon. “I did, thank you. Can we just not talk? I’m still not happy with you.” He crossed his arms and kept his helm down, his arm still hurt from whoever kicked it out of place. The awkward silence caused him to crack under pressure. “You asked me what happened to me, some coworkers at the towers jumped me. And they did this before leaving me on the roof until Optimus found me.”

 _Someone hurt you again?_ The enforcer reached out for Jazz, but he stopped feeling that Jazz wouldn’t appreciate touching. “I’m sorry that that happened to you Jazz. That shouldn’t have happened.” He could see how uncomfortable the mech beside him was. The mech looked at the Polyhexian with a frown, and his wings twitched when he couldn’t feel Jazz’s EM field. When Prowl let his field expand to comfort Jazz, he saw him physically move away. They walked awkwardly beside each other, not saying a single word, not even a peep when Ratchet and a few others saw them make their way to the front doors of the hospital.

“Jazz, what were you thinking? Running away like that? What if you had gotten hurt?” Ratchet was really trying hard not to yell at the blind mech, but he was left unanswered when Prowl went to touch Jazz’s shoulder. The Polyhexian’s helm snapped in the Praxian’s direction and glared dangerously at him which actually terrified Prowl. Jazz went back inside with Ironhide on his heels. The mechs all looked at Prowl, seeing him sigh with disappointment and his shoulders sagging. They noticed the dents in his chest, a scuff on his face, and bit of energon dried on his bottom lip. “What happened to you?”

“He was expressing his anger, which I fully deserved. I’ll be fine though. Anything on the ones who did that to Jazz?” Prowl asked, not wanting to make a big deal of his injuries. Mirage touched a dented spot on his chest with a sympathetic wince.

“We have them in custody Prowl. Come on we need to get those repaired. I can't believe Jazz did this to you.” The medic shook his helm in disbelief. “Mirage, let everyone know Jazz has been returned.”

The noble nodded, “understood. I should head back home; Hound and I have a party to attend to. It was good to see you Prowl, dented or not.”

“The feeling is mutual.” Prowl bowed his helm before following Ratchet inside.

In the council room, Ultra Magnus was staring at Telatraan's calculation of how many citizens in Iacon has increased over the meta-cycle. “It can't be possible for that type of increase. How can this be?” The blue and mech jumped slightly when he heard Hot Rod’s voice behind him.

The mech turned to see him and Drift stand behind him. “Hot Rod, Drift I wasn't expecting to see you two on your day off. I'm so confused, and none of the hospitals have had any reports of waves of sparkings.”

“Well when I was Dead Lock, there were a lot times slaves would get sparked by their masters. And sometimes in fear they would smuggle their creations out of wherever they lived. But that was quickly found out, and everyone involved were made examples of.” Drift gave his input before putting his servos on his hips. “But this is Kaon and Tarn I'm talking about; slaves are still legal, but they have taken precautions to avoid that type of mistake again.”

The two Iaconians stared at him in disbelief. “If this is happening again, how are they getting into our cities without none of the border patrols knowing? An insider?” Hot Rod suggested with confusion.

“Wait what? This can't be right. Telatraan rescan.” Ultra Magnus started pressing buttons as the terminal did his scan before showing the same result. “How did we increase in the span of minutes!?”

“We'll have to notify the others. And increase the patrols.” Hot Rod told his fellow Councilmember.

Drift didn't like seeing his future mate in stress. “I could go to Kaon, talk to some of the lower class. Your mechs won't know any of the slang or terms.”

“You'd do that? We'll have to discuss it in the next meeting. Telatraan, notify me if it keeps increasing.” Ultra Magnus instructed before leading them out of the room. They stopped when they found Blaster staring off in the middle of the hallway. “Uh Blaster? Hello? Hello, Blaster?”

The mech shook his helm and looked at him. “Sorry, Ah saw a memory from Jazz's processor. It keeps going back tah dis drone named Data.” He went into the room that the three just left. _Jazz, ya need tah let meh help ya. Ah know dat Soundwave hated it when ya had dah bond closed, but if ya keep it open Ah can help ya figure out these memories._

 _Okay… I'll try to keep it open. I just… I feel that it'll make the minis hate me or feel disgusted by me._ Jazz was opening the bond to Blaster and his creations.

 _We could never hate you or be disgusted by you Jazz. We're family!_ Eject said excitedly. The others all agreed with their brother.

 _I remember something about my Europe missions. Whenever I recall them, I see the drone. And two shadows beside him._ _I… I think I was keeping them safe from something. The war maybe?_ Jazz was laying in the berth at the hospital while Ratchet was repairing his arm. The Polyhexian was trying to not move while the medic was repairing his arm. He wondered who the shadowy figures were. After seeing, well hearing, Prowl parts of Jazz’s memories were returning to him. Ratchet told him that it was going to take a few groons to replace, and his arm was going to be in a stasis cast for a while.

“So, you punched Prowl? How did you even get out without anyone hearing you?” Ratchet asked Jazz while placing a large band on Jazz’s shoulder and then a smaller one around his wrist. Four very slender metal wires connected the two bands before a transparent light covered the entire arm. Jazz instantly lost the usage of his arm, which was the oddest feeling to him.

“Yeah, I punched the aft, he deserved it. I opened the window, climbed out, closed it, and climbed down. I needed to think, sorry for worrying you guys.” He turned his helm away from Ratchet as he sighed sorrowfully. “Well I've come to you with worse injuries. This is like the lightest of repairs you've done on me.” He chuckled with a smile.

“I would like to see you _without_ injuring yourself, Jazz. You really freaked Blaster out when we told him you were gone. I have only seen him like that when it involved his creations.” The medic wanted to try and get it in Jazz's stubborn processor that he is wanted by his friends.

He looked ashamed for worrying Blaster, even after everything he's done for him. Jazz used his good arm to push himself upright and looked in Ratchet's direction. “I won't do it again, I promise Ratchet. Prowl or not, I will get better and be who you all want me to be.”

“For now, you rest and let your repair system work. I'll be back with energon and the glass for your visors.” The medic placed a servo on his friend's shoulder. He left the room and saw a Polyhexian standing worriedly in front of a viewing window of one of the rooms. The mech walked over to see what was going on. “Friend or family?”

The mech had yellow visors and a mask covering his mouth. “Family. He got injured, I'm waiting until I can go in.” He gave a shake of his helm and gave an exasperated chuckle. “The idiot tried to copy some acrobatic stunts our Carrier taught us, and he fell from a high beam.”

“Who's his medic?” Ratchet asked as they continued to look at the curtains covering the examination room.

“First Aid. I don't trust the medics where we're from.” He leaned against the wall with his arms folded and tilted his helm back. “Our Carrier once told us to trust only family, CNA or not, because we'll never abandon each other to suffer alone. After he disappeared, I kept that promise to never abandon my brother.”

 _Family. Abandon. Lack of trust in medics._ The head medic examined the mech in front of him but went along with it. “I have a friend who didn't trust medics either, idiot refused to go into stasis even during dangerous repairs. Hey, I never got your name.”

“Retsiem Tehcocir. I should see him. Thanks for the chat.” He went into the room.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prowl works on earning Jazz's affection. Jazz is still trying to heal. Ricochet and Skids become cocky and make mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SO SO SO SO sorry for not updating this story! I honestly completely forgot that I had more chapters to post on this, and I've been working hard on some other fics.

Ch. 14

Bluestreak and Smokescreen had noticed a strange development in their brother. His home was cleaned to nearly the way he always kept it, his frame was painted and waxed to how he had it and was even more willing to hang out with them in public. The middle brother touched Prowl's helm with genuine concern. “You okay bro? You seem… happy.” He poked Prowl's arm as they walked in downtown Praxus.

Smokescreen poked his other arm, “you're even out in public. Should we take you to Ratchet? Is your battle computer getting worse?”

“I am fine you two. And I would like to not waste Ratchet's time with your idiotic concerns. As for the state of my battle computer, it is functioning at one-hundred percent.” Prowl rolled his optics with his wings moving thoughtfully. He knew where he was going, but he wanted to show his younger brothers that they didn’t have anything to worry about.

“What happened? Catch a bad guy? Meet someone?” Smokescreen's wings flicked in confusion. It had been forever since he saw his brother this happy.

“I did not catch a criminal. And no, I did not meet anyone.” _Well not anyone new._ Prowl's subtle smile appeared when he thought of how much he missed holding Jazz in his arms. He took his brothers into a gift shop that was for courters to give to their intended.

Bluestreak and Smokescreen looked at each other with even more confusion. “Prowl, you know this is a gift shop, right?”

The cashier told them about promotional items and offered her help if they needed it. But Prowl didn't need it, he knew exactly what he wanted. “I am aware.” His helm was looking up and down at the items that lined the wall before stopping in front of a shelf filled with cases that had music chips. He searched through the hundreds of thin cases until he pulled out the one that he wanted. “Gotcha. Come on you two.”

“Prowl, who is that for?” The youngest Praxian asked with frustrated confusion. They went to the front counter.

“Find everything okay? Oh, this is Maestro Gridlock isn't it? Not many know about this chip album.” The femme took it carefully before placing it in a small box, wrapping it up in a holographic silver wrapping paper, and topping it off with a simple black ribbon.

Prowl nodded, “It is.” He held out his wrist and the femme scanned it, the credits automatically transferring to the business. “Thank you. Come on, I have one more place to go.” The mech took it and carefully subspaced it.

“Can you just tell us who you fell for?” Bluestreak threw his arms in the air as they left the shop.

“I do not fall for anyone.” Prowl flicked his wingtips playfully. They went into another shop that made treats. The black and white Praxian went up to the counter. “Pick up for Prowl.”

The older mech turned his back, climbed up a step stool and climbed back down, and held it out with a smile on his face with his wings moving happily. “A dozen of acidic cubes, eight rust sticks filled with extra acid, and four titanium dipped acidic gel cubes. Never had so much acidic flavored treats ordered. Did you know that those that prefer acidic means they have a lot of soul?”

“Well these are for someone with a lot of soul.” Prowl held his wrist out again, got it scanned, and then took the deep purple box before subspacing it. “Thank you.”

The mech behind the counter saw the confusion on the two other mechs' faces. “Prowl, seriously what is going on. Who are you courting?” Bluestreak wasn't going to stop until he got his answer. “Don't make me analyze you.”

“I'm not courting Bluestreak. I'm apologizing.” Prowl finally answered before he heard his brothers both stopped. He turned to face them. “What? It's common our Sire did the same thing for our Carrier.”

“Yeah, but that's because they were mated already! Maybe we _should_ take you to see Ratchet.” Bluestreak crossed his arms with his wings flicking behind him.

Prowl folded his arms with a frown, “I’m fine you two! These are just to show Jazz that I intend to keep the promise I made him. If you both do not like my decision to attempt to get the _only_ mech that helped with my glitches, back in my life then I’m sorry.”

“Oh, come on Prowl we’re not trying to anger you. We are just weirded out and concerned for you both.” Smokescreen said with concern for his older brother’s happiness. He had seen what happened to his older brother when Jazz was captured, and he didn’t want to see it happen again. “If you’re really sure that Jazz is who you want, then we will back you up.”

Prowl didn’t need numbers to know that his sparkling brother was serious about helping him. Whenever he had the chance, he would take smack about Jazz in attempt to make him feel better. “I appreciate you both, thank you.” He wanted to hug them, but he didn’t know if he should initiate it or not, so he just stuck with flicking the tips of his wings. “And how are things going on with Sunray?”

“Good, she’s been really busy at the family center. There’s been a weird spike of single Carriers and creations coming in. It’s like they came out of nowhere.” Smokescreen shrugged with his palms in the air. They continued walking as he went on, “she said that some of the Carriers have been coming in with dents and scarring.”

Bluestreak and Prowl’s wings moved in thought of the information. “Did she take it to the enforcers?”

“She tried to get some of the Carriers or younglings to talk, but I guess none of them will.” The mech shrugged with a shake of his helm.

“I'll talk to Indigo about opening a casefile.” Prowl offered before seeing the much from outside Newgate, being followed by a drone, heading in their direction. The mech was being fussed over by the drone.

“Data, please stop I’m going to be fine.” His wings moved with agitation while the drone was examining his arm. Seeing Smokescreen and the mech near each other, Prowl could see even more similarities. The younger Praxian caught sight of the three mechs as they got closer, and he stopped. “Oh no. D, I’ll see you at home.”

The drone bowed his helm, “I will see you at the manor Master Skids.”

He started walking off as Skids extended an arm out before face palming. “How many times do I have to… _ugh_. I’m sorry about that, you know how medics are.” He rubbed the back of his helm with a guilty chuckle.

“We wouldn’t know, only medics we know threaten to weld our afts to things if we hurt ourselves.” Smokescreen jokingly said that was followed by a laugh from Bluestreak. “Nice paintjob, you race?”

Skids’s wings twitched as he chuckled, “naw. Not really into racing.”

“Lame.” Smokescreen crossed his arms with a pout.

“You seem like you’re recovering from an injury of your own. What happened?” Bluestreak gestured at the young Praxian favoring his left leg.

He looked at his leg and looked up as he answered, “bad fall. Wouldn’t make my Carrier proud if he saw me fail in a simple high beam exercise. My brother doesn’t have wings to worry about when doing flips.” He laughed at himself with embarrassment. “I should head home before my brother sends our bodyguards after me.”

“Wait a moment, did you ever get a chance to speak with your Sire?” Prowl asked Skids, noting the shock in his optics.

He smiled softly, folding his arms behind his back with his wings moving happily. “Actually, I did, didn’t talk to him though. Don’t know how he would react if he found out that his creation is half Praxian. I should go, thank you second lieutenant Prowl.”

Skids smiled before transforming and drove off. The three brothers watched him drive before heading back to Prowl’s house. They decided to have dinner and watch a movie, despite Prowl’s wishes to be alone. He sat on the chair near the window, deep in thought. “Bluestreak, it’s rude to stare.” The oldest Praxian looked away from the window to look at his brother.

“Sorry, you just have that look like you’re coming up with a battle plan. We already know you plan on courting Jazz, whether you admit it or not, and this isn’t the war so how do you plan on acquiring permission on courting Jazz? He has no living family members, and Soundwave won’t exactly give you the okay.” Bluestreak knew that without the war, Prowl was going to follow the Praxian courting laws to the tee. He remembered the struggle Smokescreen had trying to convince Sunray’s creators to let him court their daughter, purely because he was a Carrier mech.

“There is Blaster, he essentially adopted him, so that would work. How do I go about telling Jazz about the spark?” He frowned as he looked at the gifts he had gotten earlier. His wings twitched in thought. _He’s not ready to see me, and I don’t want to anger him anymore than I have, so do I wait until Jazz is willing to see me? Or do I send the sparkling to him? No, scratch the latter option, that is morbid and terrible._

“Tell him when you’re ready.” Smokescreen said with a tired yawn. “I’m going to recharge. Sunray’s Sire is taking me to a business party mid-cycle.” The Carrier mech found it a contradiction to have business and party in the same sentence, but he was willing to give up a race to show his future co-Sire and co-Carrier that he was serious about being with Sunray. The older brothers bid their good nights before deciding to go into stasis themselves.

Soundwave was sitting at the table while his creations recharged. He didn’t know whether to laugh or scream at the fact that Jazz broke off the bond with him. _Jazz may be strong enough to break from me, but he knows that I still hold power over him. And when he sees that, and I get out of here, I will make sure to punish him so hard he will think twice before betraying me._ The Host mech rested his helm in his servos, but light taps on the thick plastic got him to look up. He stood up quick enough that the chair fell over, causing his creations to all online. _No, it can’t be._ “Blacklight? But how?”

“My name is Meister, voice of the voiceless, and I have come to talk to you. Don’t bother lying to me, I can hear your perverted thoughts. They’re all on the disgusting things you did to an innocent mech. All because your own Carrier was a whore, right? She would leave you and your half-brother every lunar cycle, come home with a new lover, both overcharged, and would interface with them for cycles at a time.” Meister waved his frame to size Soundwave up.

“You know nothing of my Carrier. Who are you? How did you get this information?” Soundwave was quick to appear in front of the masked mech. His fists pounded against the cell wall with anger.

Meister smirked behind his mask, “I know plenty about you _Soundwave_. I was trained by the best, the one that was your _big blue star,_ but you were outshined by another. It’s too bad really, you could have taught me a lot of new tricks with my abilities. All you can give me now is your credits, title, and home. You and all of your demons get to rust away in a pit while Jazz moves on, has a family, and gets to live the life he was meant to have.” He put his servo on the wall as he removed the mask slow enough to reveal his red optics. “You think Jazz will come back, but he is going to forget all about you. Just like how your Carrier forgot about you.”

With each word spoken, Soundwave was getting angrier and angrier by the second. He started pounding his fists as he shouted with rage. Meister placed the mask back on before backing up with a finger gun pointed it at him. “Who are you!? Tell me who you are!” The blue mech was left unanswered as he jumped out of sight, and guards were sent to see what the commotion was about.

_Blaster was standing in front of the door, the door that held all of the secrets of Jazz’s plans. The failsafe that Jazz had put up was standing in front of it with a smile on his face. “Ya got meh Prowler, but Ah ain’t ready tah make my grand entrance. Give Prowler and Ah a chance tah reconnect. After dat Ah will tell ya’ll everythin’, and then ya will understand why Ah did it. For now, dis is all Ah will allow.”_

_“Jazz, why are ya allowin’ strange mechs tah hardline with ya? Who is dis Meister and why does he have yer Sire’s mask?” Blaster wanted some clues to who this was, but the failsafe remained silent. “He’s tryin’ tah help ya, which means he’s important tah ya. Jazz, Ah know he’s a telepath, but he’s in danger of hurtin’ himself. Telepaths, especially young ones, suffer from processor overloads, which causes ‘em tah purge and can cause permanent damage tah their processor. Ah can help him, but ya need tah tell meh.”_

_Jazz looked genuinely worried for the mech, and he nodded before a door appeared. He took Blaster’s servo, leading him through. It opened up into Halifax’s shop where Jazz was working on organizing some items, and a very young Polyhexian walked up to the older mech. The youngling looked up at Jazz with a frown and a pair of big red optics. “Co, what’s wrong?” He sat a box down before kneeling in front of him._

_“You’re scared of me. I’m sorry for being scary, is that why you always leave? I promise I won’t be scary anymore.” He started getting upset and rubbed his optics. Jazz was quick to pull him into his arms._

_“I’m not scared of you Co. I can never be afraid of you, and you have nothing to apologize for. I leave because I have friends that will get worried if I’m gone too long, and they wouldn’t understand you or your brother that’s why you both stay here with Data.” Jazz sat on the ground with a smile on his face before pulling him into his lap. “Co, I want you to make me a promise okay? Never use your gifts to hurt others.”_

_The youngling sniffled with a nod before putting his tiny servo on the Autobot insignia with a smile on his face. “When I’m big and strong, I wanna be just like you! Skids wants to too, but he’s too scared to say so! Can you read us a story before you go away again?”_

_Jazz chuckled as he rose to his peds, “’Course I will Co.”_

_The door closed with Jazz looking at Blaster with a frown. “Ah had tah protect Co and Skids from dah Cons. Co wouldn’t have understood why none of dah others liked mechs with his optics. If ya can really help him, Ah will tell him tah meet with ya.”_

_“And what about Skids? Is he a telepath also?” Blaster asked just before Jazz chuckled and a door appeared. When they walked through, there was a youngling version of Skids playing a game with Jazz._

_“Dada took us outside and play! I found a really pretty crystal, and Dada helped me make a necklace with it!” Skids jumped up and ran over to the counter where an energon dispenser was sitting. He picked up the item and rushed back over to the smiling mech. The young Praxian let the necklace dangle; the chain was made out of silver and hanging from it was a bright green crystal. “Dada said that it came from Praxus. Where’s Praxus at?”_

_Jazz stood up with his servo extended out, which Skids happily took, and they went over to a map that was mounted on the wall. “It’s very pretty Skids, but you have to remember there is still some bad mechs on Cybertron, so you all have to be very careful when going outside. I don’t want any of you getting hurt.” The youngling’s winglets dipped slightly as he nodded. The Polyhexian lifted the Praxian in his arms before pointing to the city. “This whole area is Praxus. It’s where Praxians, like you, come from. Your Sire and his family came from Praxus. And my family came from Helix, right here. And Co’s Sire came from Tarn, right here.”_

_As Jazz pointed to all of the different cities, Skids looked very deep in thought, then his wings perked up with excitement once more. “We’re different, but we’re family because you’re in it. You, Co, Dada, and me are all family. And family protects family, right!?”_

_He chuckled as he nodded with his helm gently laying on top of the smaller helm. “That’s right Skids. Family protects family. And I will protect you both until my dying intake.”_

_The door was shut once again, Jazz was circling Blaster carefully. “Yer hidin’ somethin’. Ah can tell. What is it? Ah’m bein’ honest with ya Blaster, why not do dah same?”_

_“It’s not my place tah tell ya Jazz. Prowl has tah be dah one tah tell ya.” The telepath said confidently. He now had a bit more of an insight on the two, as he was about to leave Jazz grabbed his servo. “Jazz?”_

_“Meister was my old stage name whenever Ah was at Halifax’s. Co is most likely usin’ it tah have a connection tah meh. And don’t be harsh on ‘em, they mean well and want meh back tah how they knew meh.” Jazz informed before finally releasing Blaster._

Jazz onlined as he sat up quickly, headbutting Ratchet by accident. He fell back with his servo rubbing his helm as they both groaned. “Hatch’ don’t you know not to lean over me while I’m in stasis? Ow, Primus that is going to leave a scuff.” Once he opened his optics, he realized he could see the ceiling. “Oh, my sight it’s back! Does that mean I can head home now?”

“Wish Ironhide told me about your sudden onlining. Which isn’t good for your systems by the way, so I’m going to have to give you something for that. Frag that hurt.” Ratchet picked up a few of the tools that fell to the floor from either him dropping them or Jazz’s flailed arm knocking them down. “And yes, I replaced the glass on them while you were recharging. When was the last time you had a good recharge?”

The Polyhexian sat up slowly, “When Blaster and I formed the bond. I recharge better when I can feel someone’s field or them holding me.”

“And safe to assume that you don’t ask Ironhide to do it or have Blaster over to recharge?” Ratchet asked with Jazz nodding sadly. The medic started disconnecting him from the machines. “I also took the liberty of sizing up your frame two sizes. You’re almost back to the size you were during the war Jazz. I’m proud of your achievements, and I know your Sire would be too.”

Jazz looked up at him in shock before ducking his helm with a gentle smile on his lips. “Thanks Hatch’ for doing this for me. Hey, is it okay if I get a bit of recharge in here before going home?”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re still in stasis. I’ll come check up on you in a couple groons.” Ratchet said before leaving the room to let him recharge. He went to the front desk and started looking at his next patient's charts. “Oh, how's that patient doing in room forty-six?”

The receptionist looked at the medic in confusion. “There isn't a patient in there. Maybe you should heed your own advice and get some recharge.” She chuckled with a shake of her helm.

“But I was told that First Aid was looking at a high beam stunt fail. Are you sure? It was only yesterday.” Ratchet went around the corner of the desk while she looked at the hospital staff list. “He wasn't working that day? Teal Stream call Blaster down here, but don't stress any patients.”

She nodded as Ratchet made it unsuspicious that he was in a hurry. He went back to Jazz's room and opened the door slowly and expanded his EM field for anyone else in there. All he could feel was Jazz's and he was deep in stasis. “Hmm.” The medic left the room, missing Ricochet peeking into the room from the top of the window.

Blaster had arrived and went to the security room with Ratchet to look over the footage. He gave him the time and date he saw the Polyhexian that he talked to that day. The mech found them in the hall, and then Ratchet left before the mech pulled out Blacklight's mask. He bowed his helm as he replaced them and went down the hall to Jazz's room. Back at the room, Skids came limping out with a medical drone behind him.

“What in the world? How is there a functioning battlefield medical drone? I was talking to Meister that entire time? We're going to have to relocate Jazz." Ratchet sounded irritated with himself for not realizing it.

The mech transformed and shook his helm. “No, Ah spoke with dah failsafe. He said dat they're on our side, but Ah need tah get in a room with Meister for his safety. And medical drones were built tah be able tah care for sparklin' right?”

“Well yeah, but that drone is a field medic. It doesn't have the proper equipment to care for sparklings." Ratchet explained. “For someone who claims to be trained by Jazz, he isn't very stealthy.”

“Jazz was trained by meh and Soundwave tah be a hacker. He probably downloaded some basic Carrier codin' tah make it function dah way he needed. But where did he find sparklin's? And they are really good espionage agents, snuck in and out of a secure prison not only once but over a thousand times.” Blaster reminded as they headed to the front of the hospital. “We'll make up a plan tah get Meister back out in dah open.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz starts to fall for Prowl, but still is cautious about it. Bumblebee, Mirage, Hot Rod, and Drift meet with the Rebellion.

Ch. 15

Ironhide walked into the kitchen where Jazz was trying to reach for a box of diamond dust, but it was just out of reach. He walked behind him and pulled it down for him. “Here.” Jazz took it with a frown. “How's the arm?”

“Thanks. And useless.” He looked at the offline arm that just hung there. Jazz poured in a couple scoops of the dust into a boiling pot of melted rust sticks. A knock on the door got both of their attention, but it was Ironhide that went to answer it.

Ironhide opened it and was handed a sealed data card. He flipped it over and saw Jazz's name on it, and the return address was from Praxus. The mech went over to the Polyhexian with the letter held out in front of him. “For you.”

 _Me? Prowl? He really did it. He kept his promise to me._ Jazz was quick to open the seal, inside was a data chip and a short letter. He sat the data chip on the counter as he read the letter.

_Dear Jazz,_

_I had gotten word that this data chip was recovered, and I was quick to get it before anyone else did. You won't recognize all of the songs, but the one song that I played for you when you were in the med bay during the war. I'm sorry for the short letter, I am not very good with this or expressing myself as you may remember. Your health and recovery is more important than my poor excuse of a letter._

_Prowl._

The Polyhexian started smiling and even gave a small giggle. Ironhide felt how bouncy the field around the Polyhexian was as he reread the letter before forcing himself to focus on what he was previously was doing. The red mech smiled subtly when he saw his friend shining through. _Keep this up Prowl, you're the only one who can get him through this._ “Well I'm going to work out for a bit before heading to Newgate.”

After refueling, cleaning, and working out with Ironhide, Jazz was laying in his berth with the data chip going into his wrist. He started the playlist before deactivating his visors, the darkness was instantly filled by bright colors. He closed his optics while the music played softly in his receptors. Jazz sat up quickly, activating his visors, and went to the window. The Polyhexian lifted the window open before flipping onto the roof.

Jazz ran for the next roof, leaping for the roofs until he made it to the large bridge that led to the Towers. He rose slowly onto his peds before sending the signal. It wasn't long before two figures landed on either side of him. “Co, Skids yer gonna get caught and our plan isn't goin’ tah go through. Ah know ya want our family back together, but Raj and dah others don't trust yer intentions.”

 _It's just the failsafe._ Skids sighed sadly before nodding in agreement. “I'm sorry, it was my fault. I just want you back Ca… Jazz. I had to lie to Prowl about my Sire, and mister cocky here keeps going out in public to antagonize the Council.”

“Oh, I'm cocky? What about you Skids? You've got all of the old Ops team on your aft!” Ricochet pointed a digit at him.

“Enough ya two. Just cool it with yer visits. Now dat Prowler is back in my life, all we need is time. Do somethin' tah convince dah Council dat yer on our side. And then everythin' will be right again.” Jazz said before hugging them both. “Stay safe.”

“You too." They all went their way; as soon as Jazz’s helm hit the pillow, Ironhide did his routine night check on Jazz. He cracked the door open and saw the Polyhexian rolling over with a whine. The red mech went to close the door before he heard Jazz mumble something.

“Sparked…Europe…Data.” With each word Jazz tossed and turned with stressed whimpers. His field flared with stress and he started digging his digits into the berth. Ironhide went into his room and sat on the berth with his field trying to soothe the recharging mech.

Just outside Kaon, Drift was with Hot Rod, Mirage, and Bumblebee. He didn't want to return to his home city, but if it was to help his future mate and his friends, then he would do it. “You guys need to give me your left arms.” The swordsmech instructed as he changed the color of his optics back to red.

“Why?” Bumblebee asked as they all lifted out their arms. Drift started chipping paint until his old name's glyphs appeared.

“You three won't be bothered if they see that you're owned. Trust me it's a lot safer for Iaconians.” Drift said before looking around nervously. “And Rod for the love of fragging Primus do not speak out. That can only protect you so much.”

“But… But I… Dr-… Hmph.” Every time Hot Rod tried to speak Drift put a digit to his lips. He didn't like not speaking his mind, but he crossed his arms and looked away to pout. Drift kissed his helm before looking for the sign that they needed to find the mechs.

The three Autobots followed behind Drift, they kept the chatter to a minimal while they walked. They were passing a large group of mechs before Drift's shoulder clipped one of the other mech's. Both groups stopped in their steps and they slowly turned their helms to glare at each other. “Ya wanna apologize tiny?” The other mech sized Drift up with a growl.

“Me? Do ya wanna apologize for being a blumbering idiot? Now move along before I have to fight nasty.” Drift growled back with his swords falling into his servos. The other mech stepped back before huffing and walked on. He sheathed his blades, quickly pushing the other three mechs along. “Thank Primus that worked.”

“Is that common? To threaten to fight?” Bumblebee asked Drift quietly. He noticed that any other Kaonions heading in their direction saw Drift with them, they started whispering before backing off. “What are they saying? My Kaonion is rusty.”

“They think I own a club. And you have to look intimidating or you'll get pushed around. Oh, hold on.” Drift went over to a couple of younglings and held out a few credits in front of their faces. “Can ya tell me where I can find a Meister, or a slave named Skids?”

The oldest of the younglings looked at her young friend before they turned their backs to them whispering. She turned back to Drift and held up five digits. “We'll show ya for five credits.”

“Five credits!? Ya can get shelter at the youth center for a credit.” Drift stood up and crossed his arms. “Two credits.”

“We ain't going to the center here idiot. Meister is taking us into the tunnels!” The young mech said excitedly. “Five credits or ya ain't going.”

Drift groaned before pulling out three more credits and dropped them into the femme’s servos. “Slagging scraplets. Take us to him now or I'll send your afts to the youth center.”

Hot Rod looked at Mirage and Bumblebee quizzically. The noble shrugged as Bumblebee was catching a few words. “I think Drift got gypped out of credits?”

The younglings ran ahead of the bigger mechs, stopping occasionally when they got ahead of them. The white and red mech was scowling. “They remind me so much of… me. Living on the streets we would do anything to survive, literally anything to get credits. The mech said something about Meister sending them into tunnels.”

“Tunnels? I don't recall any during the war.” Mirage said with Bumblebee nodding along with him. “That can explain how bots are getting into Iacon without anyone knowing, but where are the entrances at?”

“Drift, do I seriously have to be quiet the entire trip? This city gives me the creeps, no offense.” The future Prime quickly said to his future bonded.

“You don't have to be quiet Hot Rod, just… don't be snarky. And don't be fooled by poor looking bots, they will jump you.” The mech spoke softly as they were led to where the older Autobots were familiar. “The black market? Hey what are you twerps trying to play at!?”

The younglings quickly took off before two large Kaonions popped up from a hidden balcony above the door. Drift gasped and hid the Autobots behind him with a glare, “it can’t be. Tarn, Vos you’re both online? But how?! I thought Megatron had you all extinguished?”

Vos looked at the other mech and started speaking in a language none of them understood, but a few words were able to be translated. “…. Drone… tell… boss.” Tarn groaned as he pulled his blaster away with a roll of his optics before talking into his wrist while keeping an optic on the four mechs.

::Hey, they're here like he said.::

::Bring them in. Data will escort them from there.:: Skids said as he tried to contain his excitement.

“The kid said let ‘em through. Hey idiot ya might want to hide those marks, unless ya want yer helm mounted on his mantle!” Tarn said before the large door spiraled open and they disappeared from view

Hot Rod looked at Drift with a frown. “Who are those mechs?”

“Tarn and Vos, members of the Decepticon Justice Division. Tarn leads them and Vos is their scientist, there are four others Helex, Kaon, Tesarus, and Nickel. I've never met them, but I'll be glad if they don't find out who I am.” Drift explained softly as they walked inside.

“Why's that?” Mirage asked as they went down a dimly lit hallway. It started opening up into Halifax’s market, except it was bigger the last time that Mirage had seen it. There were actual doors leading to possible areas. “This place expanded a lot last time I've been here.”

“As a Decepticon, we never feared Autobots but the DJD we knew we were in deep slag if we appeared on their list. And my betrayal to Megatron and betraying the cause may be enough to appear on their hit list. I agree with you Mirage; last time I saw Halifax it was to trade in a bounty for some sword polish. The mech was a quack, lost his trine and his ability to fly all in one solar cycle.” Drift looked around and saw a medical drone kneeling down in front of a swarm of younglings and sparklings.

Bumblebee started secretly recording everything the moment they walked into the large room. The drone saw them enter and ushered the young Cybertronians to a door behind the counter that had a variety of items on and in it. Tarn and Vos exited the door on the left, they were almost comically taller than the drone. “Ya look familiar, have we met?” Tarn asked as he walked in front of them.

“Hey how can I understand you now?” Hot Rod asked when he realized he could understand all of the mechs and femmes in the room.

“Translator. Vos and I built it.” Skids had popped up from behind the counter with a greasy towel in his servos. He smiled before walking over to Tarn and Vos with an even bigger smile on his face. “Welcome to the rebellion. I'm Skids, second of this group, and our stubborn leader is currently busy. Tarn be nice, the war is over.” His wings moved excitedly as he pulled the large mech out of the others' space.

Vos nodded before going to the door that the younglings went through. “I will escort… sparklings… Praxus.”

“Alright, I'll notify the team. Come on, we've got a lot to do and my brother won't be happy if I'm chatting away like Blurr.” He laughed lightly before taking to the door on the right. Drift noticed how close Tarn followed Skids, which was odd. “We are working on clearing out the illegal sparklings that Kaonions had with their slaves. And we're getting some slaves to retreat to the other cities to houses that my brother bought.”

“Wait so you're not trying to rebel against the Council? And what about your master, how would he like knowing that his slave is freeing others?” Hot Rod blurted out curiously.

Skids looked over his shoulder as he laughed with a shake of his helm. “My ‘master' is my brother, and it's just for show like you all, Councilor Hot Rod. We're rebelling against the Kaon and Tarn leaders, trying to free slaves and safely hide any sparklings that they had with their masters.”

“Where is the rest of the division at Tarn?” Drift asked wearily, fearful for his own life.

“Dead, Vos and I are the only ones that survived. They found us, and now we work for them. Skids, the urchins got wind of a pleasure bot that is carrying. We'll have to have her here before the owners find out.” Tarn explained softly.

“I'll go, but don't tell Rico. He'd flip his slagging helm if he found out that I went downtown without him.” His wings flexed as he folded his arms behind his back with a hum.

Mirage elbowed Bumblebee’s side when he noticed something that he swore came from Jazz’s music collection from during the war. “Didn’t Jazz have this album?” The scout shrugged, focused on the Praxian with his field expanding to get a read on him.

“Doesn’t he seem familiar? Like the way he walks, talks, slag even his field seems almost familiar.” Bumblebee knew for a fact that the party was the first time he saw him, but he felt like he’s seen this type of confidence from someone before.

The walls were lined with music albums from before the war, crystal lights lit the halls, and there were framed glyph stones that had names with dates under them. Drift kept a close optic on Tarn, not trusting him, but when he saw how close he followed the smaller Praxian it reminded him of how he would do the same thing back when he was Deadlock. He would stand extremely close to Hot Rod when they first started courting, because he was fearful of something else in his life going wrong if he didn’t hold onto it for dear life. _It can’t be._ He wasn’t going to believe that Tarn, leader of the DJD, had the ability to love.

“You know he’ll make me go with you. Still think you two are idiots for bringing Autobots into this, they won’t accept the orphans.” Tarn shook his helm as he grumbled.

“Well they’ll have to deal, cause if they send all of them back to Kaon, they’re as good as dead. And my creators would throw huge fits if that happened, and the populous would have something else to hate about the Council other than freeing a falsely accused mech.” Skids flared his wings with his arms crossed, and he marched up ahead.

As soon as the young mech was up ahead, Tarn’s helm started tilting to the side as his engines purred. “Love it when he’s all riled up.” He stopped chuckling when they stopped in front of double doors. The Praxian opened them wide before flipping on some lights, and the four mechs all gasped while the other winged mech groaned with annoyance. There was a mech laying back in a stationary chair with cables that came from the ceiling and connected to various places on his helm, and his digits were moving rapidly.

“I told you we were having guests! Get off the fragging grid ya aft!” He went over to the mech and leaned over him. The mech started stirring before he sat up with a groan but didn’t say anything while him and Skids started removing the cables. “Oh, be quiet Rico. I did tell you; Vos and Data were there while they were clearing your intakes! I don’t like worrying about whether or not you’re going to be okay!”

The mech put his servos on his hips. “Well I didn’t ask you to worry about me Skids. That bastard deserved everything I did to him. Now they all know what he went through since he was barely our age! I’d do it all over again if it means they _all_ pay for they did to our family.” He shoved a digit into Skids’s chest with a huff of his engines.

“I don’t want to lose my brother for his own stupidity! We’ve lost our Carrier and our Sires; I _don’t_ want to lose you.” He returned the gesture with his wings moving radically behind him.

 _Sires? What is going on?_ Bumblebee looked at the scene with confusion. The other three mechs were just as confused by the scene that they just walked in on. _These two are about as bad as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe when they argued._

Ricochet chose to not respond to the thought, “you’re not going to lose me Skids. I’ll make sure of that. Now can we forgive each other and _focus_ on the task at hand?” He put a servo in the air between them, and Skids clasped his servo in the other with a smile on his face. _I’m sorry for worrying you Skids, I just wanted to make them pay._ The Polyhexian slowly turned to face the others with his face expressionless. “We are the Rebellion, and I am Ricochet. And our first priority is waking our Carrier up followed by finishing what you all started.”

“You’re a Kaonion. What do you mean wake up your Carrier?” Hot Rod asked Ricochet with a frown and his arms crossed. The brothers nodded while Tarn moved to the other side of the room. Vos had soon arrived with grime covering his frame, he went over to Ricochet and touched the center of his forehelm with a single digit before speaking with almost a similar tone that Preceptor or Shockwave did.

“They have been successfully transported to Velocity’s shelter. We will set up for tonight’s hunt. Finest energon all spiked with the usual?” Vos kept his digit on the young mech’s helm. “Find peace in your spark Ricochet. The hunt will soon be over.”

Skids snickered at the two before his brother took a deep, relaxing ex-vent. “Thanks Vos. Okay, back to business. We are trying to abolish slavery in Kaon, Vos, and Tarn just like the slavery laws and sparkling killing laws were abolished. We have several classified locations where we send a few of our followers to meet either fleeing Carriers with sparklings or just sparklings and younglings. The adults are given jobs to contribute and soon afford for their families. Some of the Carriers keep their creations under our care to get a bit of a head start in getting housing, and everything that the youth need.”

“But we need the voice of a Prime and the original first slave to be free of his Kaonion master.” Skids said before activating a large terminal, almost as large as Telatraan I. He typed away until several red lights appeared. “We have a major outpost in every major city, if we can get as many slaves and creations out of Tarn and Kaon then we can heavily dent the slave market.”

“Skids, Ricochet I know you have good intentions, but this has been done before. And everyone involved had been publicly deactivated. How can you be so sure the results won’t be the same?” Drift gestured at the young mechs with a frown of concern.

“They didn’t have an Iaconian, a Kaonion, or two _loyal_ followers of the Decepticons on the inside.” Tarn huffed with his arms crossed over his chest with optics narrowed in Drift’s direction. “Unlike you, _Deadlock_ , I would never let my mistakes be covered up by a simple frame change.”

Skids’s wings twitched and his optics narrowed at the large mech. “Tarn the war is over, you don’t need to answer everything with violence. I swear you and my brother are so much alike it angers me.” He huffs with his optics rolling before quickly typing away before a red alert appeared on the screen. “Aw scrap, not again Data. Come on Vos, D came back with someone.”

“Stay here, I don’t trust you yet.” Ricochet ordered before leaning against the terminal with a groan. “Ugh new sparks. I’m going to smack Data for bringing new sparks here.”

 _A telepath?_ Bumblebee stared at Ricochet with his EM field expanding momentarily. “Who did you say your Sire was again?” He reached for behind his back with mental blocks going up.

“Never gave a name.” Ricochet glared back as he reached for his blaster on his hip just as slowly. The two Polyhexians quickly drew their blasters, but Ricochet shot behind the minibot.

“Your aim is terrible.” Hot Rod said shortly before a large beam swung from behind the mechs, and they all were sent face first with the beam trapping them underneath. “Or you’re a really good shot. Ow.”

“I never miss my target Councilor, remember that.” Ricochet walked over to the four mechs as the struggled to get the heavy beam off of them. He tilted his helm before point his digits at them like a blaster before making soft sound as if he shot an actual blaster. “Only reason I am letting you see our base and know where we are located is because I led you all here. No one knows the Rebellion exist but those that want to see a change, I threw in that little clue in mine and Skids’s files so you all would get curious.”

Tarn walked over and lifted the beam off of them. “Their Carrier wasn’t the only one to be subjugated by compliance chips. My entire team was a part of Shockwave’s experiments, and when we found out we ripped them out of each before hightailing it out of Cybertron. Then we found out the hard way that Megatron had explosives implanted in us if _we_ stepped out of line. When it was just Vos and I, Ricochet’s drone found us and brought us to them.”

“First Kaonions I met that didn’t want to shoot me. Ironic in my opinion, seeing as the only thing _Tarn Native_ about me are my optics.” Ricochet stood back up and looked at the rising mechs. “Come to _Twisted Spark_ , see how we work. And don’t worry no one dies, well not unless they touch what they can’t have.”

Skids came back with his arms splattered with energon. “She wants her triplets taken to an uncle in Vos. Seeker sparkings are unnecessarily messy, ugh. I told her I’d take them there once their winglets hardened a bit for the travel.”

“Alright, I’ll scout of Vos for this uncle. Did she give a name?” Ricochet asked, forgetting about the Autobots. He tossed his younger brother a cleaning cloth.

“Yeah, and you’re not going to believe it. It’s Powerglide.” Skids wiped off the results of after sparking.

“Really? Huh. Alright I’ll go find him. What about the Carrier?” Ricochet looked at his brother with confusion.

He looked over his shoulder at the other mechs in the room before answering silently. _She wants to stay with him. She thinks that she can change him._ The Polyhexian sighed heavily and nodded briefly before shaking his helm. “I didn’t tell her, but I had Data put a block in her gestational chamber. She’ll still have heat cycles, but nothing will come of it.”

“Good, we already have enough of a hard time hiding Praxians in Praxus. They have one of the dumbest family pyramids and courting laws. Do the sparklings look like Seekers at least? They’ll be-”

“They’ll be more accepted into the city if they look like Seekers. Yeah, yeah, I know. And we do not have dumb laws like Polyhexians do. I mean really a helm batting matching? Who wants to be repeatedly bashed in the helm to prove they’re stronger?” Skids waved his now clean servo in the air.

Ricochet lifted his servo in the air and choking the air in frustration. “You are so annoying sometimes.”

“Hey, what are you going to do about the Carrier? And you’re not really planning on just dumping sparklings on Powerglide are you?” Bumblebee looked at the brothers and then Tarn with concern and anger.

“It’s what their Carrier wished, just as it is to remain here. Tarn, please escort our guests to the border of Iacon. I have a lot of work to do, come on Skids we have some Lords to frag over.” Ricochet picked up Blacklight’s mask and placed it over his face, and his frame colors changed into Meister’s coloring. And when he spoke, his voice was the same deep voice as Meister. “The hunt is on.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz starts to remember a bit more of his missing memory. Skids and Jazz have a karaoke battle. Prowl starts to become antsy about future meetings with a certain Polyhexian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs: 
> 
> Go the Distance- Hercules  
> I won't say (I'm in Love)- Hercules  
> Rap God- Eminem   
> My Love- Petula Clark

* * *

Ch. 16

Jazz was following Optimus with a few data pads in his servos. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a mirage of himself holding something in his arms, rocking it back and forth while humming a melody. The Polyhexian started walking towards the mirage in hopes of getting a closer look, but Optimus’s servo landing on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance. “Jazz?”

Jazz shook his helm and looked back in the direction of where he saw the mirage. “I-I… I'm fine, sorry. Thought I saw something, sorry.” Unconvinced, Optimus just nodded and led him to where they were originally heading. “Optimus, where are we going?” He was confused, not terrified as he would be before, just confused and nervous when they were reaching the exit of the building.

“Well every so often Elita and I go to one of the schools in Iacon to talk about the history of the war or sometimes the origins of the Primes, but Elita is in Velocity visiting Firestar and Chromia so I figured I'd bring you.” Optimus said with a smile, though Jazz had to imagine the smile. They transformed and headed for the school, Jazz didn't know how to feel about being not only in an unknown environment, but also be surrounded by younglings.

::Optimus, are you sure it's the wisest thing to bring me into a school filled with younglings? I know next to nothing about younglings, and the minis don't really count because they're all full grown adults.:: Jazz had gotten two letters from Prowl since he replied to the first one. He went to Bluestreak for therapy and had almost explored all of the downtown area with Ironhide. It was only five more solar cycles until Blaster took him and the minis to Helix for the music festival.

::I have faith in you Jazz. All of your friends have faith and belief in you Jazz, the only one you need to convince is yourself.:: Optimus comforted the smaller mech as they arrived at a colorful building that had a play structure next to it. They transformed and walked inside, and Jazz soon realized that it was a room with ten sparklings. There were small tables and chairs to the left of the room, a soft floor mat in the center of the room, a board on the wall facing the tables, a section for toys in the corner, and a section for their bags. In the corner of the room was a desk where the teacher sat.

“Optimus, you're early!” Jazz didn't recognize the white and pink femme, but he sure recognized the Autobot insignia on her frame. She hugged the Prime before looking at the mechs and femmes that were busy coloring at their tables. “Hello Jazz, I'm Arcee.”

The sparklings all turned around with cheers when they saw Optimus. Jazz shifted his weight as he flashed a smile. “Hi.” One of the sparklings was Polyhexian and ran up to Jazz with amazement in her optics. Her armor started clicking, and Jazz crouched down in front of her with his armor clicking back. She started giggling before grabbing his servo.

“Arcee, I want him to tell story!” She started jumping up and down excitedly. Soon the all of the other sparklings demanded the same thing.

“You'll have to use your manners and ask Jazz, Freeway.” She smiled at the femmeling, and immediately the other sparklings surrounded Jazz with their EM fields flaring with excitement as they begged Jazz to tell them a story.

The Polyhexian slowly stood up with his field buzzing with uncertainty. “Ah don't know any good stories. Why don't you let Optimus tell you a story?” He didn't like being surrounded by tiny Cybertronians, feeling like this would have been his fate if he stayed loyal to Soundwave.

The sparklings all collectively started crying, which only panicked Jazz even more. Arcee knew that they were testing their guest's will power. Optimus tried to comfort a few of the sparklings, but they were set on getting their way. “Jazz, they're only going to stop if you tell them a story.”

“But Optimus, I don’t have any stories. I'm not good with sparklings, I told you this.” His stress was elevating before an idea came to him. “How about a song? I'll sing you all a song if you stop crying, please.”

And just like that they stopped bawling their optics out, letting out sniffles and puppy optics all looking up at the mech. The sparklings were once again smiles and the sat in a circle around Jazz. He bit his lip as he tried to think of a song to sing.

_Dear Theodosia, what to say to you?_

_You have my eyes_

_You have your Sire’s pride_

_When you came into the world, you cried, and it broke my spark_

_I’m dedicating every day to you_

_Domestic life was never quite my style_

_When you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart_

_And I thought I was so smart_

_You will come of age with our young nation_

_We’ll bleed and fight for you; we’ll make it right for you_

_If we lay a strong enough foundation_

_We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you_

_And you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

_Yeah, you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

_Oh Rico, when you smile, I am undone_

_My son_

_Look at my son_

_Pride is not the word I’m looking for_

_There is so much more inside me now_

_Oh Rico, you outshine the morning sun_

_My son_

_When you smile, I fall apart_

_And I thought I was so smart_

_My Sire wasn’t around_

_I swear that_

_I’ll be around for you_

_I’ll do whatever it takes_

_I’ll make a million mistakes_

_I’ll make the world safe and sound for you_

_Will come of age with our young nation_

_We’ll bleed and fight for you; we’ll make it right for you_

_If we lay a strong enough foundation_

_We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you_

_And you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

_Yeah, you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

After Jazz was done singing several tiny servos shot up. He pointed at an Iaconian mechling with a smile. “Who's Th-Theo… that really _big_ word you said?”

“It's not a who exactly. It's a nickname Polyhexians like myself called sparklings. It means center of one's universe.” His field was calm enough that Optimus didn't feel like he should put Ratchet on speed dial. The sparklings, even Freeway were even more excited.

“Did you fight in the wars?!” A Velocitron mechling asked while trying to control the speed of his voice. Jazz tensed up with a nod of his helm. “Were you one of the good guys!?”

After the second question, Jazz tried to change the subject for his own sake. “Hey, why don't I sing you another song?” They all started pouting again, and Jazz started looking at Optimus and Arcee for help.

“Sparklings, remember when we talked about feelings? It makes Jazz sad when he talks about the war.” Arcee parted the sea of tiny frames to get them to focus on her. “Why don’t we have Optimus talk about the origins of the Matrix of leadership?”

“Yeah!” The high-pitched voices said excitedly while forming a semicircle around Optimus as he sat in a chair that was in front of the mesh carpet. Jazz stuck to the outer part of the room, feeling nervous about a lot of things.

“Why are you scared?” A tiny servo tugged on Jazz's digit. He looked down and saw a white and black Polyhexian with big red optics. _I don't mean to be scary._ He shook his helm with his visors deactivating briefly. The Polyhexian was replaced with a Praxian mechling with blue optics.

“Huh? Oh, I'm not scared. Just…listening to the story.” Jazz tried to hold an encouraging smile. _I’ll be less scary I promise. Is that why you leave?_ The Polyhexian felt his spark clench tightly, and he quickly left the building. He went to the shaded area with his servo going on his chest plate. “Calm down Jazz, you’re okay. No, no that’s not why I leave. They wouldn’t understand you. I did it to protect you. I made myself forget you to protect you.”

“Forget who?” Jazz looked up and saw Arcee standing beside him with her servo landing on his shoulder gently. “Who did you forget to protect?”

He tried think of who it was, but no faces came, and no names crossed his thoughts. Jazz looked up at the sky with tears falling down his face. “I…don’t know.”

After Jazz and Optimus’s time at the school, the sparklings all said good-bye, and the duo left to return to the Prime towers. He was quiet the entire time until they arrived back at work. The Polyhexian looked at Optimus with a guilty look, “Optimus I need to tell you something. It’s about what you asked me before, about the name Meister.” The taller mech nodded and they entered the elevator before he spoke again. “Whenever I was at Halifax’s I went by the name Meister once he discovered I could play basically any musical instruments under the suns. And we did up my paintjob so that nobody knew I was Soundwave’s slave. I lied about the name because it reminded me of Halifax, and my failure in protecting my friend. Sorry.”

“I forgive you Jazz, and the mech going by this name is someone else that seems to be interested in you.” Optimus looked at the shorter mech with a bit of concern. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I figured it would be nice to get out instead of staying here and doing desk work.”

 _First this Skids and now some mech using my old stage name? What do they want from me?_ Jazz frowned with confusion but looked up at Optimus with a smile. “Well despite my small little panic, I enjoyed it. Though, maybe a bit of notice would be nice?” Optimus chuckled with a nod; Jazz folded an arm behind his back with a thoughtful look. “Reminds me of when Spike and Carly took Bee, Hound, Skyfire, and I to this fundraiser for that children’s hospital. That was fun well until the Combaticons ruined the party.”

“I think that was the same day that you came back with your leg strut so broken that Ratchet had to rebuild your entire leg. He said so many curse words, I think he even invented some.” The Prime was stilled astonished about Ratchet’s reaction to seeing Jazz walking into the med bay as if to have a friendly chat.

The Polyhexian started laughing hard, it got so out of control that Jazz started crying from laughing and his intakes started hiccupping. “Primus stop. That was the funniest slag I have ever heard. It was the first time I think we started combining Earth and Cybertronian slurs? He actually started hitting me with the wrench he used specifically for the twins.” He wiped away any signs of his tears of joy before smiling again. “Thanks, Prime, I needed that.”

“You’re welcome Jazz, I don’t think you’ve ever laughed that hard in a long time.” The red and blue mech admitted before they left the elevator and went to the office. On their desks were piles of datapads to which Jazz made a comment about how it’s like the war all over again. They got to work before Optimus decided to ask about the song. “So, Jazz, that song you sang to the sparklings. Where did you hear it?”

“Mmm, I dunno it just was the first song that came to mind. The tune was my Carrier’s humming, but the words? I couldn’t tell you.” He shrugged before resting his chin in his servo with a smile as he looked at the crystals he still had on his desk. _They’re so pretty, I could look at them forever._

After work, Jazz quickly entered with excitement which grew even more when he saw a package sitting on the table. He saw his name and he quickly opened it before staring at it with confusion. _Praxus assorted energon and tickets?_ The Polyhexian picked up the data card and started reading it.

_Dear Jazz,_

_I’m glad to hear that you are enjoying the music chip so much. And from what I’ve been able to get out of my brother, you are having less memory fluxes which is also good. I still remember that you love acidic flavors, so I went to a popular shop here in Praxus that specializes in assorted treats. The tickets are for you to take someone to a play that is going to be happening in a Stellar cycle. It is in Iacon. I hope you enjoy it. You didn’t need to send me a gift or thank me, I figured you would appreciate to have some things from my home city._

_And thank you for your congratulations on my promotion. It will take a bit of getting used to the extra workload, but it will be worth it. I hope Optimus is going easy on you with desk work, we all know that you would rather suffer a hangover than do desk work._

_Prowl_

Jazz chuckled as he read it another time, this time eating one of the gel cubes. “You're right, not as acidic as I make them.” He took out the tickets in his servos with a deep thought. “A play huh?” His spark started fluttering and his field as nothing but happiness.

“Well someone is in a happy mood, what happened win the lottery?” Ironhide walked in with a slight limp, which concerned Jazz.

“Ha, I wish. No, Prowl gave me tickets, but I don't know who to take. So, what happened?” Jazz gestured at the limp. “Get into another fight with Chromia?”

“No, slagging Stunticons tried jumping me while I was escorting them back to their cells. Motormaster managed to kick me before their collars activated. And _then_ Chromia and I got into an argument of me getting injured. Speaking of, she's going to be coming over for a couple lunar cycles.” Ironhide started to say, but Jazz knew what that was going to lead into to.

“Yeah, yeah I'll be sure to soundproof my room. Seriously invest in a gag for yourself.” Jazz stuck his glossa out before exaggerating a shiver of disgust. He placed the box of treats back inside the box it was shipped in and made his way back to his room. The Polyhexian looked down at his pelvic plating with a flicker of doubt. Ever since he had Ratchet unlock his plating, Jazz was fearful of even self-facing. “It wouldn't hurt to do it just once right?”

Jazz put everything on his desk before laying on his berth with his back against the wall. He looked at his plating with thought, and then let both his spike plating and valve cover slide open. The mech hummed uncomfortably, not sure where to begin and was just looking at his valve as if it was supposed to do something. “Hmm, where do I even begin?” He closed his optics and tried to think of something arousing, but he couldn’t. When something came to mind, Soundwave would appear in his thoughts, and after five failed attempts at trying to turn himself on Jazz closed everything up with a heavy sigh. “I’m broken and now I can’t get aroused. What use am I if I can’t get turned on?”

He stared at the two packages sitting on his desk before reaching under his pillow and pulled out the moonstone he still had. A small smile appeared on his face before he slid it back under the pillow. _Thank you for giving me another chance at whatever this is._ The Polyhexian played the only ballad he liked from the chip Prowl gave him; not that he didn’t like any of the others, it was just the one song that could help him recharge. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you about Europe.”

Three solar cycles had pass since Prowl’s last letter was sent, and the mech was pacing in front of his front door waiting for the postal drone to appear with his highly anticipated letter from Jazz. Bluestreak was in Iacon having a session with Jazz while Smokescreen was off on a date with his future mate. The oldest of the three brothers was now even more busy with his new position after Indigo was damaged to the point of early retirement, but it kept him distracted enough to pass the time for when Jazz’s letters came. The small slot in his door lifted with a sealed datapad falling to the ground in front of his peds. Prowl quickly picked it up and went to his living room as he broke the seal.

_Prowl,_

_The assortment you gave me was generous, thank you. I hope the acid flavored sweets I gave Blue to give to you were okay. It's weird to have a "normal" job, if that makes sense to you. I hope you're doing well. Hide keeps saying he sees the 'old me' showing whenever I get nervous, but I don't know if that's a good thing. Prime mentioned me using slang when I get excitable. Blaster has been helping me with everything, and it's nice to have a safe feeling bond. It's going to be weird when we break it off, and I know that I'll be able to do it one day but for now it's what I need. Blaster says that the reason, is because my symbiont part of my spark and processor is still unsure about everything. The Host bond is the only thing it is comfortable and sure about. The mech part of me is wanting to be free and not in a bond, but the thought of not having someone in my helm and feeling someone else's emotions terrifies me._

_Jazz_

Prowl sat down on the couch with his wings moving excitedly at how much Jazz had written. Before it had been only a few lines, and they were typically to thank Prowl for his gifts, apologize for hurting him, and then a quick ‘looking forward to your next letter’. The Praxian sat the datapad down before reaching forward and grabbing one of the small gel cubes he had gotten from Jazz and popped it in his mouth. “The music festival is tomorrow, maybe I’ll include that in my reply. He sounds so happy and relaxed in this letter, maybe this was a good approach.”

 _Chances of him accepting to go out for some energon, seventy-one percent_. Prowl rechecked the numbers before he started getting excited and started coming up with a way to ask Jazz for energon. While he was planning, Bluestreak had returned with a smile on his face and his wings moving happily. “Oh, someone is in a happy mood. Can’t be that promotion still, could it be seeing your favorite brother? Or is it a Polyhexian?”

“Your obvious joke is noted, and your assumption is correct. His letter was just delivered. Am I allowed to know how today’s session went, or am I still denied?” The oldest Praxian asked as Bluestreak sat down beside him. “Bluestreak, can I ask as to why you haven’t sought out a mate? Not even during the war you seemed interested in taking anyone as your own.”

“Hmm, well I have a couple prospects, but they wouldn’t be interested in having a shrink in their helms constantly. And just knowing they are happy with each other is enough for me, even if it pains me not to be brave enough to reveal my feelings for them.” Bluestreak answered with a soft smile before answering the previous question. “Jazz is doing a lot better; I think having him open the bond between him and Blaster has helped with opening up. As for anything else, no you don’t get to know. And you will continue to not know until Jazz is comfortable with you being a part of his sessions. What you two are doing, is enough for him at the moment. Prowl, I know you want to see Jazz, but we can’t expect him to recover at the speed you or I want.”

He nodded with a heavy sigh, “I know. And if letters are what it takes to have some sort of contact with him, then I’ll take it. Did you hear about Newgate?” Bluestreak shook his helm, and Prowl continued. “I guess Soundwave mentally snapped and Optimus is preparing to hold a trial. To see what the public wishes to do to him. Though from what I heard, some of the Tarn natives are demanding Soundwave and his Cassetticons be handed to them for trial.”

“Well that isn’t going to happen, he is wanted for sparkling napping, slavery, and his involvement in the war! The Tarn leaders can’t seriously expect the Council to just hand him over as if his prewar crimes never happened!?” Bluestreak said, completely baffled by what he just heard. “I can’t see Optimus being dumb enough to allow a mech like Soundwave to roam free! Not only could it start another war, but what about Jazz’s safety?”

Prowl frowned deeply as he knew what his brother was getting at. “Jazz would be terrified enough to actually flee Cybertron. And if Soundwave was freed then he could start an uprising, finish what he and Megatron started all of those deci-vorns ago. Optimus will listen to me; I’ll make sure that he doesn’t allow that monster to roam free.”

“Prowl, don’t do anything reckless.” Bluestreak knew that Prowl was just like their Sire when it came to protecting his family. He remembered one time their Sire nearly stripped an overcharged mech of his wings for making a move on their Carrier. In Praxus, their city’s forced interface crimes were only one percent of their crime statistics because the punishment of forced interface was banishment and wing stripping, which was worse than deactivation. Prowl knew what Bluestreak was getting at, and he nodded silently in agreement.

“I won’t do anything to embarrass myself nor endanger anyone’s life.” Prowl reassured his brother before his battle computer blurted out two names and a percentage of the likelihood, they are the mechs Bluestreak was crushing on. “Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, they are the only ‘they’ we know. If you care to know I’ve calculated a 78.9% success rate in being accepted at even just courting them.” The enforcer informed his brother with a supportive flick of his wings.

Bluestreak was surprised by the acceptance he just got from Prowl on courting the twins. His wings were flared in equal surprise, “You’re actually okay with the idea of me courting those two? Like seriously, you’re okay with that?”

“Correct, though I suppose I would have noticed sooner had I not been so… preoccupied. Then again if I wasn’t and you came to me ask for permission to court them during the war, I would have said no for a few reasons.” Prowl picked up the remote and turned on the holo screen before watching the news. “Have you visited Autobot city on Earth recently?”

“Sadly, I haven’t, I want to go sometime when it hits wintertime. So that I can see Carly, Spike, and Daniel! What about you, planning on visiting Earth?” The steel blue mech asked with a smile on his face. _Maybe I’ll message them when I get home._

“Possibly, I’m not sure yet though. Bluestreak, does Jazz still wish to be Praxian? During the war, he always talked about wishing to have wings. He even had this irrational fear that when the war ended, I would want a Praxian to be mated too. Despite how much I would tell him that I did not want that.” Prowl flicked his wings and got a look from his brother, and he put his servos in the air. “Okay, okay I won’t ask. I was just wanting to know.”

Blaster could see the pure excitement from Jazz struggling to contain his excitement. The Polyhexian was turning around in circles as he took in all of the booths, crowds, sounds, and colors of the music festival. To the Host it was like seeing a sparkling meeting their idol for the first time. His field was bouncing all over the place when he saw new and familiar instruments. The Cassetticons were just as excited, but it was to be able to be with their creator besides at work. Jazz stopped dead in his tracks when his auditory horns were picking up a wonderful song, and he deactivated his visors before opening his end of the bond up completely.

For the first time, everyone in the bond could feel everything Jazz was feeling. They even could see what their adopted family member could see. Blaster took the Polyhexian’s servo, giving him a supportive squeeze. “Jazz, dis is amazin’. Ah thought Ah understood what it was like tah have passion for music. But tah see dah soul bein’ played, it’s even more beautiful.” Jazz reactivated his visors to look into the red and yellow mech’s visors. “And what better place tah see dah soul in bots who love music as much as ya do than Helix?”

“Blaster, Ah… Ah love it! Dah music, dah beat, if Ah could Ah would shout tah express myself.” Jazz looked at his Host with an excited flare of his field as they stood in front of a booth that had a variety of Aghartan electro-basses that were neatly propped on display or in their cases. He looked at his friend with a smile on his face, and it turned down slightly when he saw the smirk on the other’s lips. “What?”

“Ya used yer slang. Never thought Ah would miss hearin’ it. Ya can sample ‘em if ya want.” Blaster offered before looking at his Cassetticons and gave them the typical ‘behave yourselves and keep the bond open’ talk before giving them a few credits to spend while he walked with Jazz around. _Ya seem disappointed, what’s up?_

 _It’s embarrassing._ His face heated up as they continued walking through the crowds. _I wanted to self-service, but I… I couldn’t. What am I going to do when my heat cycle starts? I only had three actual heat cycles, and that was during the war! And I had… I had someone to help me with it_. Jazz looked at his friend in silence, before folding his arms in front of himself. “Thanks for this Blaster, as much as I appreciate Ironhide wanting me to socialize more, going to the bar while him, Kup, Springer, and Huffer get overcharged isn’t my idea of fun.”

Blaster started laughing before throwing his arm over Jazz’s shoulder, a quick moment of surprise from the lack of flinching. “Ah’d be lyin’ if Ah said Ah envied ya, but Ah don’t. So, when ya do open dah bond up when ya recharge yer a lot happier. Ah haven’t experienced dah backlash of a memory flux. Take it dat yer communication with Prowl is part of it? Do ya plan on thinkin’ of tellin’ him?”

“Telling him what? That I appreciate his gifts, but I want none of it and that just getting typed out words from him every other half deca-cycle is enough for me? No, I don’t. I know where you’re getting at Blaster, but love is as real as Primus or Unicron.” Jazz turned his helm away with a scowl. _I wasn’t spark mate material._ He walked in front of Blaster and stopped near a cheering crowd as a femme climbed back onto a large platform.

“Who is brave enough to go up against our five-time champion in a battle over the prize of the brand-new cybernetic piano!?” She asked with enough excitement that it got the crowd excited. Her unique green optics locked onto Jazz’s visors and she smiled before pointing at her fellow Polyhexian. A few of the viewers started pushing Jazz closer to the stage, despite his obvious resistance, even as he was pulled onto the stage. He started releasing fast intakes as he looked down below at Blaster. The Host mech could see the fear in Jazz’s stance, but he couldn’t get through the crowd fast enough to save him. “Well look who it is, we have a very special guest! Ex-Autobot Jazz, named after genre of music, filled with soul, who wants to see how much soul this mech really has?!”

Jazz waved his servos in front of himself before the mechs and femmes down below roared in agreement. _Blaster, I’m going to have a panic attack! Help! Help! Help!_ He had a microphone shoved into his servos. A field expanded into his, calming him down enough that he realized that it wasn’t Blaster’s field. The mech looked up and saw the dark blue Praxian standing in front of him, but he had a pair of yellow visors covering his optics. The mech was replaced with another when he really looked at him. _Prowl?_ He shook his helm clear when the beat started playing.

Skids’s wings flared and he rushed to the edge of the stage before starting with so much confidence that Jazz didn’t see from their first meeting. He turned to Jazz and did a mocking calming gestured at the Polyhexian’s direction.

_Look, I was gonna go easy on you and not to hurt your feelings_

_But I'm only going to get this one chance_

_Something's wrong, I can feel it (Six minutes, Slim Shady, you're on)_

_Just a feeling I've got, like something's about to happen, but I don't know what_

_If that means, what I think it means, we're in trouble, big trouble,_

_And if he is as bananas as you say, I'm not taking any chances_

_You were just what the doctor ordered_

_I'm beginning to feel like a Rap God, Rap God_

_All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod_

_Now who thinks their arms are long enough to slap box, slap box?_

_They said I rap like a robot, so call me Rapbot_

_But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes_

_I got a laptop in my back pocket_

_My pen'll go off when I half-cock it_

_Got a fat knot from that rap profit_

_Made a living and a killing off it_

_Ever since Trion was still in office_

_With Madam Lewinsky feeling on his nut-sack_

_I'm an MC still as honest_

_But as rude and indecent as all hell syllables, killaholic (Kill 'em all with)_

_This slickety, gibbedy, hibbedy hip hop_

_You don't really wanna get into a pissing match with this rappidy brat_

_Packing a Mac in the back of the Ac, backpack rap crap, yep, yackidy-yac_

_And at the exact same time I attempt these lyrical acrobat stunts while I'm practicing_

_That I'll still be able to break a motherfuckin' table_

_Over the back of a couple of faggots and crack it in half_

_Only realized it was ironic I was signed to Aftermath after the fact_

_How could I not blow? All I do is drop F-bombs, feel my wrath of attack_

_Rappers are having a rough time period, here's a Maxipad_

_It's actually disastrously bad_

_For the wack while I'm masterfully constructing this masterpiece as_

_I'm beginning to feel like a Rap God, Rap God_

_All my people from the front to the back nod, back nod_

_Now who thinks their arms are long enough to slap box, slap box?_

_Let me show you maintaining this shit ain't that hard, that hard_

Jazz’s optics widened and he looked at Blaster and then the Praxian that was hyping up the crowd. _Rap? I don’t Rap. What do I do?!_ He saw a flash of smiling younglings sitting at his peds, and the same song he sang to the sparklings came to mind. The Polyhexian had all optics staring at him, which was enough to turn his helm away as he started to sing.

_My love is higher than the sky_

_Deeper than the ocean_

_Warmer than the sun_

_Shining down on me_

_Quiet as a prayer_

_All my love_

_I will sing_

_Of joy and glory_

_I will sing the look in your eyes_

_I will sing_

_Till all the world knows your story_

_I will sing_

_For the rest of my life_

_For the rest of my life_

_I will sing for the rest of my life_

As he sang, Jazz slowly looked up to see that Skids’s visors were slowly being taken off and his field was filled with sadness. His wings fell as Jazz started gaining a bit of confidence with each note. The crowd said nothing, but some brave souls held up the pale blue night sticks that were passed around the festival. When his turn ended the judges started tallying the results, and the scores were tied in Jazz’s surprise. They were given the choice of picking what to compete in. The Praxian spoke into the microphone after finally collecting himself.

“If Jazz here can keep up with the new trends, why not emotional singing? I’ll sing what he’s _feeling,_ and he sings what I’m feeling. That is unless he wants to call it quits.” Skids waved his wings confidently with a smirk almost a mix of Prowl’s and his own.

 _Emotional singing? How do you do that?_ Jazz asked Blaster over the bond, and Blaster quickly explained it.

 _Ya have yer fields overlappin’ and ya sing. It started a few deci-vorns ago. Ya don’t have tah do it Jazz._ The Host mech said before he looked to his right, seeing Bumblebee slinking behind the booths and through the crowd. He couldn’t hear his thoughts, which meant that the buffer was working like it was supposed to. Jazz bit his lip before looking at the young Praxian with a nod. “Bring it on kid, but I’m not easy to read.”

The crowd all ‘oohed’ at the sudden cockiness from the Polyhexian, though they didn’t realize that he was faking it. “If that’s true then I hope that you don’t get a little discouraged from this. Give me distress and passion!” The band started playing before Skids stepped closer into the invisible field, before giving an innocent smile.

_If there's a prize for rotten judgement,  
I guess I've already won that  
No mech is worth the aggravation  
That's ancient history, been there, done that_

_Who d'you think you're kidding  
He's the earth and heaven to you  
Try to keep it hidden,  
Honey we can see right through you  
Mech you can't conceal it  
We know how you're feeling  
Who you thinking of_

_No chance no way I won't say it, no  
(You swoon you sigh why deny it oh oh)  
It's too cliché I won't say I'm in love  
I thought my spark had learned its lesson  
It feels so good when you start out  
My helm is screaming "Get a grip mech  
Unless you're dying to cry your spark out”_

_Mech you can't deny it  
Who you are is how you're feeling  
Baby we're not buying  
Hon we saw you hit the ceiling  
Face it like a grown-up  
When you gonna own up that you got, got, got it bad_

_No chance no way I won't say it, no, no  
(Give up, give in, check the grin you're in love)  
This scene won't play I won't say I'm in love  
(We'll do it until you admit you're in love)  
You're way off base I won't say it  
Get off my case I won't say it  
(Mech don't be proud it's okay you're in love)  
At least out loud I won't say I'm in love_

Skids poked Jazz’s chest as he did things to get reactions he wanted. The Polyhexian crossed his arms with a hidden glare and deep frown. “Ah ain’t in love with anyone kid. Ah don’t believe in it.”

“If that were true, your field wouldn’t be filled with it. Come on, what does my field say?” He asked away from the range of the mics before stepping with his servos folded in front of himself. Blaster saw and felt something change in Jazz’s thoughts; almost as he did during the war when he was trying to get into his target’s processor with only his actions. The visored mech started circling the Praxian before facing him again.

_I have often dreamed_

_Of a far of place_

_Where a great, warm, welcome_

_Will be waiting for me_

_Where the crowds will cheer_

_When they see my face_

_And a voice keeps saying_

_This is where I'm meant to be_

_I will find my way_

_I can go the distance_

_I'll be there someday_

_If I can be strong_

_I know every mile_

_Will be worth my while_

_I would go most anywhere_

_To feel like I belong_

_I am on my way_

_I can go the distance_

_I don't care how far_

_Somehow, I'll be strong_

_I know every mile_

_Will be with my while_

_I would go most anywhere_

_To find where I belong_

Jazz looked at Skids with an emotionless face before dropping the microphone and jumped back to the ground. The crowd moved back when Jazz grabbed Blaster’s servo, dragging him away while the femme that started the whole ordeal was calling out for him to return to the stage. “Jazz? J man, what’s wrong? Ya were doin’ awesome up there! Ah didn’t think ya had it in ya tah sing in public.”

“I want to go home.” He closed his field off as he continued to drag the mech behind him. Jazz didn’t know why the mech made him so angry, but to be told to admit that he was in love was beyond infuriating. Blaster took control of the situation and sat him down at a nearby table. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be J, so what happened at yer session with Blue yesterday?” Blaster asked while comforting the stressed mech. He wanted to distract Jazz from as much of the news as possible, especially after catching word that Soundwave was going to have a trial. The mech was going to make sure that that couldn’t happen. “How are things goin’ with work? Does havin’ Steel there with ya help with stress?”

“Blue asked me how things were going with Hide, how writing to Prowl is going, about the attack, if any more memory files opened up, if my heat cycle started, and then we talked about our bond and then we moved onto going into the kitchen and eating some of the treats I made. He told me that he thinks that since I’m not a quote ‘high stakes case’ anymore, that I could go to someone else, but I don’t want anyone else. I know he treats me nicely simply because he sees me as a friend, but I just fear that anyone else will just treat me poorly.” He laid his helm on the cool tabletop with his arms acting as a pillow.

“Ah don’t know anythin’ on therapy, but if yer comfortable with Blue then Ah see no reason ya should force yerself tah see someone else. As for yer heat cycle, maybe Ah can talk tah Hide about lettin’ ya stay with meh and help ya out with it?” Blaster offered, figuring that he could be more helpful with the possible spikes of arousal. “And hey, maybe ya could find someone tah interface with zero strings attached? Or go to a pleasure club.”

The Polyhexian frowned at Blaster, thinking he was trying to joke with him. “Blaster, I’m not going to drag someone to Ironhide’s and frag them. That’s rude. And I’m _not_ going to go into a room filled with pleasure bots.” He made a secret vow to himself that he would never go inside a pleasure bot house or club as long as he lived.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfUa4IVRZFI
> 
> My favorite cover of "Go the Distance"


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz gets drugged and his heat cycle starts. The Council continue to try to figure out about Skids and Ricochet's origins.

Ch. 17

“I can’t believe you guys are forcing me to go.” Jazz’s grumble turned into a whine towards the end as not only Ratchet was pulling him closer to a large building, but Ratchet, Cliffjumper, and Wheeljack. “I know why Blaster is making a big deal out of this, but why does Ironhide care? And why are you here Cliff? Who bribed you?”

“No one Jazz, I’m in town for a bit before the team goes back down to Earth. Still hate Earth, would _much_ prefer to be stationed on Cybertron or Moonbase-1!” The red minibot shouted loud enough for Ratchet to hear him. The medic waved his servo in the air.

“You make it sound like Autobots are still a thing. Why don’t we trade, let me run away and hide on Earth? Get away from Cybertron. Slag, I’ll even take Planet of Junk right now.” Jazz tried to dig his heel into sidewalk, but Ratchet pinched a wire in his hips, and he jumped enough for them to get him into the line.

“The Autobots are still a thing. Just because there is no war, doesn’t mean that we abolished the team. Some of us joined Hot Rod’s team, and some stay here in case something happens.” Wheeljack said with a cheery tone. “Trust me Jazz, Planet of Junk is not a place you want to go. They are a bunch of heathens that would rather take you apart and make use of your scraps.”

The taller Polyhexian gave the scientist an unphased look, clearly not seeing the problem in that. He started weighing out his options with his servos as a visual, “Cybertron where I am constantly reminded of the failure I am or get ripped apart by crazy bots and used for scraps. Hope they let me pick what is ripped off first! I don’t want to go in there.”

“Geez, you’re a party pooper. You’re just a coward, afraid you’ll maybe enjoy yourself? Let me know when my friend is around, cause at least the Jazz I know would have pretended to be enjoying himself and make jokes.” Cliffjumper gave Jazz his signature scowl. Jazz crossed his arms and looked away with his field closed off.

“Blaster commed me about how he was concerned for you. Cliff here was already coming here before returning to Autobot City on Earth, and Wheeljack and I are experimenting a few things. And you are here to see if a few things work still, because frankly you should’ve had a heat cycle after I removed the blockers and opened everything. Jazz, we aren’t going to leave you alone in there.” Ratchet explained as it was their turn to go inside.

 _I’m going to strangle everyone._ Jazz revved his engines with his arms still crossed. “Maybe I won’t ever have one? Fine I’ll go inside and _pretend_ that I want to have mechs and femmes grinding themselves all over me.” He lowered his arms, as they walked inside the club. There were mechs and femmes everywhere; some on tables dancing, a couple on the main stage dancing, several were inside cages above the floor, and the place smelt like high grade and interface fluids. He tapped his comlink and grumbled even then. ::I really hate you all.::

::Come on we’ll get the drinks. Ironhide said as long as we keep an optic on you, he doesn’t care if you get overcharged.:: Wheeljack said as he led Jazz to the bar. _Ratchet, you sure it’s a good thing to bring Jazz here? He did basically live as Soundwave’s personal pleasure bot._

 _It’s not a solid study, but a few collogues from the hospital said that they sent some patients to pleasure clubs to give their interface a bit of a jumpstart after either unused, new parts, or lack in performance. If anything happens, I’m here._ Ratchet said through their bond, that most didn’t even know was a thing. The only ones that really knew it was a thing was Ironhide and Optimus. ::Cliffjumper and I are in the back booth. Five kliks before Cliffjumper ditches us.::

::Because of that I’m going to say twelve before Jazz finds someone to frag.:: Cliffjumper joined in the unintentional betting pool.

The Polyhexian leaned against the bar with his friend. “I just want normal grade; I really don’t want to drink Jackie.” He was uncomfortable with the situation and was growing more uncomfortable when not only one, but two femmes stalked over to them. “Not interested.” He quickly said before moving closer to Wheeljack as he got a tray of drinks.

“Oh, come on baby, we’ll be gentle. What are you hiding under all of that plating?” The femme on the left was a deep violet Seeker. Her friend was a scarlet with a lighter shade of red as highlights and had two short Polyhexian horns. “I’m Fantasia and this is Harmonic. What's yours handsome?”

 _Kill me._ Jazz leaned into his servos with a quiet groan. “Please go away. I'm not interested.” He thanked the bartender when he handed him his cube of energon. A large built Praxian walked over and dropped a few credits in their servos.

“Leave the poor mech alone you energon eaters.” He pushed them away before leaning against the bar with his wings fluttering, and a sultry smile on his face. “Name's Nitro, I know who you are. Care to dump gramps here and dance with me instead?”

Jazz felt if he had ears like Ravage or Steeljaw, they would be lying flat right now. “No, I'm not interested in dancing. Thanks for getting rid of them though.” Wheeljack looked to Jazz and told him that he was ready to head back. While they were busy talking, Nitro quickly dropped something into Jazz's cube and then walked away.

The two returned to Cliffjumper and Ratchet at their booth. Wheeljack sat right beside his mate while Jazz sat beside the red mech. “You must be really broken down there if you turned down not only one, but three bots!” Cliffjumper said in amazement before drinking his specialty drink quickly. He slammed his empty glass with an unnecessary amount of strength. “I'm going to go find someone to frag.”

Jazz drank the energon slowly before setting it down with a heavy sigh. “I don't want to just frag anyone, why is that a problem? What are you two wanting to test out?”

“Wheeljack wants to face in public.” Ratchet said casually before sipping his high grade slowly. “You don't want to face anyone because you're scared of interfacing, or is it because none of them are Prowl?”

The Polyhexian opened his mouth to defend himself, but he said nothing as he drank his energon to hold his glossa. Wheeljack finished off his drink and then looked at his partner with a cheeky look in his optics. “Ratchet, leave work at work. Ask him _after_ tonight. This is the first time in like ever that we get to be in the same room besides in the office.”

“Ratchet, have you ever had someone control your interface array since your first heat cycle? Have someone only let you feel aroused when _they_ want you to? All I know is what Soundwave d-did… Primus.” Jazz leaned forward with a groan, which quickly got the other two mech’s to move to his side. His cooling fans were slowly churning, and he shivered when Ratchet touched his arm. “I-I’m fine, just a bit feeling… weird. Sound… Soundwave did to m-me.” His helm was pounding, he felt his spike pressing against its housing while his valve was on the verge of leaking lubricant, and all he could think about was needing someone to help him achieve the only thing on his mind. _I need to overload._

“Jazz, you okay? Your spark temperature has increased by fifteen percent.” Ratchet was concerned that Jazz actually started his heat cycle. The Polyhexian nodded with a whine, and he starred venting slightly hard. His vision was blurring, and he slouched in the booth when he remembered this feeling from a long time ago.

 _That slagger spiked my energon._ Jazz stood up with a pained groan, and he instantly regretted it when Wheeljack and Ratchet both touched his frame. His helm rolled back, and a moan left his lips. The mech covered his mouth when he realized that he just moaned. “F-Frag, seriously not again.”

“Again? Jazz, we need to cool you down before your spark is endangered. Come on, forget your pride and stubbornness for a moment, and find someone to interface with.” Ratchet was scanning Jazz’s core temperature, and he was getting really worried. “Did you get ahold of interface parasites?”

He shook his helm with a whine as his vision was getting blurry even more. _Hot. I’m so hot._ Jazz pointed to his energon with a wave of his digits. “S-Spiked. Ratch’ I’m so hot, please help me before I-I do something stupid.”

During the war, Ratchet didn’t mind helping Jazz because he wasn’t with anyone, but now that he was with Wheeljack, he wasn’t sure it was okay. Wheeljack looked at his mate with a nod of his helm. _I trust you Ratchet, and this is Jazz. He isn’t going to want to steal you from me. But I’m joining you both to make sure you remember who has your spark._ He winked at his mate before they helped carry Jazz to a private room. “Alright, come on we’ll help ya out kid.” Jazz didn’t remember anything after he heard the door lock behind them. He was so out of it, that when he onlined the next morning he was confused.

“How did I get home? Ugh my processor.” He held the side of his helm when he sat up slowly. Jazz looked around with even more confusion when he felt his valve was still hot, and leaking lubricant slightly. His cooling fans were on a low enough setting, that he knew exactly what this was. “Am I… in heat? I-I started my heat cycle!” The Polyhexian didn’t know why he was happy about the news, but he was thrilled to discover that at least one part of him wasn’t broken.

Then the reality sunk in, and he groaned as he collapsed back on the berth. “I’m in heat. Now what am I supposed to do?” _Blaster, I can’t work. What happened last night? I don’t remember anything._

 _Don’t ‘member much, yer side of dah bond was kinda wonky. Hatch’ commed meh and said dat ya were partyin’ it up, thanks tah some mech. He told Optimus dat ya would be outta commission for a while, but Ah can stop by with your work and tah visit ya. We gotta strengthen dah bond._ The Host informed Jazz while he was working with Telatraan on where all of these new citizens were coming from. Blaster was gathering any information he could from the readings that the computer could get.

The Polyhexian rolled out of the berth with a groan but sat back down immediately when his world started spinning. “Okay, Jazz take it slowly.” He took his time getting on his peds before leaving his room to refuel before retreating back into his quarters. Once his tanks were full enough, he went to his room and flopped on his berth with a groan. _Primus my valve is really lubricated._

Jazz leaned against the wall behind his berth and his valve cover slid open, and he noticed a bead of lubricant sliding down it. He bit his lip as he rubbed a digit over the outer rim of the sensitive area. “F-Frag yes.”

Later that day, Ratchet stopped by to check up on Jazz. Ironhide told him that Jazz had left his room since this morning. Which didn’t entirely concern the medic, since it was preferable that anyone who experienced heat to be isolated during the first few solar cycles of their cycle to avoid any accidents. He went to the door, knocking on it before entering. “Jazz, it’s Ratchet. How’s your heat cycle going? I came over to check on you, since it has been awhile since your last cycle.”

“Terrible, I have been stuck in here all day. It’s like the first time all over again, and it _sucked aft._ ” Jazz was curled up on the berth with music softly playing and his body covered up by several thermal blankets. “Ratchet, this may sound dumb, but what is a standard age for heat cycles to start?”

 _Well you should know?_ The medic went over to the mech and started scanning him while answering. “Around the time they get into their third upgrade, which is two deci-vorns. Why?” As soon as Ratchet gave an estimation, Jazz hid his face and a whimper escaped the Polyhexian’s voice box. “Jazz, you can talk to me.”

Jazz’s hardline cable peeked out from under the pile of blankets. The older mech sat beside the berth before connecting each other. Ratchet was shown immediately one of Jazz’s memories.

_“Was barely one and half deci-vorns old.” Jazz looked at Ratchet before Soundwave walked into the room that was used a punishment. A young Jazz was sitting in the middle of the berth, whimpering as he rocked._

_“Pet, what’s the matter? Are you feeling okay, you’re looking a little antsy?” Soundwave asked playfully as he walked over to the mech. He reached out and touched his shoulder before pulling away mockingly. “And your frame is burning up.”_

_The Polyhexian looked up with small trickles of tears sliding down on his face. He didn’t know what was going on, and he felt funny in his pelvic area. “M-Master, what’s happening to me? It feels funny here.” He pointed to his pelvic plating with whimpers._

_“Do you love Master, Pet?” Soundwave crawled onto the berth, forcing the mechling to crawl further on the berth. Jazz nodded with Soundwave caressing his face. “I started your heat cycle for you. Don’t worry Pet, I’ll make you feel better. Would you like Master to make you feel better?”_

_Jazz nodded with a grateful smile. Soundwave purred in delight before manually opening his valve plating. It wasn’t long before the Lord started massaging the area._

Ratchet pulled out of his helm, getting the hint at what happened after that. They put their hardline cables away in silence. “Oh, kid I’m so sorry that happened to you. You shouldn’t have had interfaced until you were much older and ready.” He climbed onto the berth just moments before Jazz tackled him into a hug, and bursted into tears. Ratchet held him in his arms, gently rocking with Jazz clinging holding onto him. “You’re safe now Jazz, Soundwave can’t hurt you again. I promise.”

“Why would Prowl want me still even with what I am? What is so special about me that he wants me to be his sparkmate? Everything about life I know is what that pit spawn taught me. I’m so broken I don’t know what is normal.” He hugged onto him tighter before bowing his helm with a shaky whimper. “I just want to get a new protoform and frame and forget everything Soundwave has done to me. Just remember only the good parts.”

“And what are the good parts?” Ratchet asked while Jazz looked up with a frown on his face. He shrugged and the medic gave him an unconvinced look in his optics. “Don’t shrug at me Jazz.”

The Polyhexian sat up with a heavy sigh. “Earth, the war, and that feeling of that I’m safe in big… strong… arms. I want to remember all of the times where everything outside his arms disappeared. No pain, no memory fluxes, no Soundwave, no… no doubt of the mech I _can_ be. That’s what I want to remember Ratchet.”

“Is that what Prowl did for you? Made you feel things that you never did before?” The medic inquired and Jazz nodded with a bit of shame. “Jazz, there is no need to be ashamed of! That’s what love is kid.” He partially laughed in astonishment and pulled away with a smile on his face. Jazz went to argue, but Ratchet put a servo between them with a smirk. “Kid, I am a medic and I am in love with a brilliant mech. And if I were to scan your spark readings as you thought of Prowl, it would escalate ten jolts.”

Jazz looked down with a heavy sigh. “I can’t be in love. Not with a mech that I’ve hurt. What if he hurts me?”

“Jazz, this is Prowl we’re talking about. He was the one who arrested Soundwave because of you. He spent since the end of the war wanting to talk to you. Prowl wouldn’t hurt you out of rage. Take your time to see that if you need to, but Prowl is and has been in love with you since you both awkwardly flirted with each other.” The medic chuckled before pulling away to look him over. “Now you should be fine with leaving the house after a couple solar cycles, but I highly suggest that if you want to leave you take someone with you to avoid any crazed mechs. Polyhexians have these general rules about Carriers and their heat cycles.”

The mech nodded in understanding before pulling away and sighing heavily. “Hey Ratchet?”

“Hm?”

“Do Carriers leave any signs of previous carryings? When I wasn’t in a heat induced haze, I kept seeing myself with this huge bump and my spark was purple. I know it sounds weird, and you’re just going to tell me that it’s the heat, but I have this feeling. Like my body or my processor is trying to tell me something.” Jazz looked up at him with that hopeful expression.

The older shook his helm, “There is no way to tell when someone has carried unless they say. The only way to tell is through residuals of creation bonds, but those disappear when the creation enters its third upgrades.”

“Oh.” The Polyhexian said with genuine disappointment. _Then what is my body trying to tell me?_

::Ratchet, it’s Hot Rod. Need you at the hospital right now.:: The young council member said in the medic’s comlink.

“Looks like duty calls. If you have any pain comm me, I see no reason you should need any pain buffers at the moment.” The mech stood up after hugging his friend one last time. Jazz smiled at him before laying back down with a heavy sigh.

The medic rushed to the hospital to see what got the young mech so riled up. He found Hot Rod and Drift standing in front of the hospital, waiting for him. “What is it? Are either of you hurt?”

“No, we met with Meister and Skids. It's not what we thought.” Hot Rod whispered as they stepped out of view of anyone. “It's like they're Autobots. They kept going on about finishing our job.”

“They're trying to abolish slavery in Kaon, Vos, and Tarn. And they have DJD members helping them, they were as loyal to Megatron as Soundwave and Shockwave.” Drift said as he leaned against the side of the building. “And the kid, Skids and Meister are brothers. He was hooked up to this machine, Skids said something about a grid.”

The future Prime nodded with a big smile. “They mentioned their Carrier was a slave. And they revealed they have two _different_ Sires!”

The medic as going along with the rambling until the very end. “Wait that can't be right, when we looked through their files they were the same age. They'd have to be split sparks. And there were millions of slaves during the golden age.”

“But they had two different optic colors.” Drift shook his helm with a frown before quickly turning to Hot Rod. “I have to head to work. I'll see you tonight.”

“Oh, okay. Love you.” The mech was slightly caught off guard with the quick kiss on the cheek and then his lover taking off for Velocity. He looked back down at the quiet mech across from him. “What if they are twins, but sired by two different mechs?”

“I'll see what I can find on split sparks.” He said with a slightly annoyed sigh.

Five days had pass, and Jazz was on a drive with Ironhide. They needed a few things from the store, and the red mech said something about needing Jazz's opinion on somethings. Loud sirens got their attention and they pulled off the road to let several fire trucks, enforcers, and ambulances rush past.

::What's that about?:: Jazz asked as they slowly got back on the road and returned their drive.

::Not sure.:: Ironhide replied as he led them back on their way to the store. As they went under the highway bridge, that was the same time they saw the smoke in the sky. Jazz pulled into a boxed area and transformed quickly, despite Ironhide's advising against it. “Kid, come on let them deal with it.”

A crowd was formed safely away from the apartment complex. Jazz saw Inferno and Red Alert took care of the situation. “Okay, that's everyone!”

“Come on Jazz.” Ironhide tried to get Jazz to focus, but the Polyhexian saw a frantic femme looking around from an area where they were getting their intakes cleared. Jazz looked up at the building and then quickly took off past everyone. “Jazz!”

“Jazz! Jazz get back here!” Inferno shouted as Jazz quickly scaled the building. He flipped inside a fourth story window before it was engulfed by flames. “Jazz!”

The Polyhexian covered his face as he shouted. “Anyone in here!?”

“Carrier!” A voice cried out before coughing, and then screams. Jazz looked around and while coughing from smoke inhalation. “Help! Sire, Carrier!”

 _“Carrier will always protect you my little blue stars.”_ Jazz heard his voice play in his thoughts as he maneuvered through the burning areas. He continued calling out until he found the origin of the voice. Without thinking, Jazz stepped back and ran into the door. “Hey, where are you!?”

There was a long pause before Jazz's auditory horns picked up coughing and chirps of distress. He looked around the room, seeing outlines of a small berth and some toys scattered around. There were parts of the support beams and the upper apartment falling inside the room. He could feel the paint literally peeling off of his frame. Jazz found a tiny femme huddled in the corner of the berth.

They were both coughing, but Jazz carefully climbed through everything. “Hey, it's okay. I'll take you to your Carrier. How old are ya?” He tried to say calmly to keep her from stressing her systems out more than they already were. She was shaking and whimpering while holding up a servo. “Five, wow. Okay, I'm going to pick you up and I want you to hide your face in my frame.”

The multicolored mech wrapped her up in a nearby blanket before lifting her up in his arms. He held her tightly as he ran back through the maze while more of the building was falling around them. The femme was crying and coughing as Jazz was nearing a window. As he got closer to their escape, a part of the floor from below it fell. _Scrap._ The youngling continued coughing, and then Jazz's own systems were struggling. _Gotta make it. You can do it Jazz._

He clutched the frame to his own before running as fast as his legs could. Jazz leapt out before rolling to the ground with cold water immediately dousing his frame. He let the youngling go as a medic rushed over and covered his mouth. “F-Focus… sparkling.” Jazz coughed as he tried to push it away.

“Someone is with her. Come on we need to take you to the hospital.” First Aid was the medic on sight, and he laid Jazz on a gurney. The femme's Carrier ran over to her creation, hugging her tightly as they both cried. Seeing the sight warmed Jazz's spark before he was lifted into the back of someone's alt mode. “Ironhide, we'll meet you there!”

“Got it. Primus kid nearly gave me a spark attack. What happened here Inferno, Red?” The red mech asked them while others were taken to the hospital.

The Fire chief shrugged, “we got a call of someone smelling smoke. And then calls started piling in on a giant fire. We won't know where it started until it burns out.”

“And the size of this, it will be a while. So, Jazz is still as reckless as ever. Or is that an act too?” Red Alert looked at them with a deep frown. When Jazz's betrayal became known to the rest of the team, Red Alert was the first to declare that none of it would have happened had they listened to him about Jazz.

“Come on Red, seriously?” His partner narrowed his optics at him before going over to the other fire fighters and assisted at putting out the flames. The red mech decided that it was best to go see how Jazz was doing. At the hospital, Jazz was more annoyed by Ratchet scolding him for doing a quote dangerous stunt. He was more worried about the femme than his own life.

 _Is this my heat cycle making me feel like this? Who did I call my little blue stars?_ The Polyhexian removed the respirator mask from his face to speak. “I'm fine, maybe a little ashy and sounding like I've been hitting up some cygars, but I am more worried about the youngling. I was only barely able to hear her because of my horns and receptors cranked up. She would have deactivated if I didn’t do something.”

“Jazz, you could have gotten hurt while saving her. What you did was brave, but you're not trained to deal with these situations. You have to leave it to the professionals.” Ratchet informed while applying cooling pads to his steaming frame.

“I am a professional Ratchet, and you had no problem with me helping the rescue teams during the war! Is it because I've been stripped and banned from the little club that I can't do what's right?! Just because I don’t have the stupid insignia doesn't mean I'm not still a part of the team.” Jazz pulled his arm away and sat up with his legs going over the edge.

“That is _not_ what I said or meant at all Jazz, and you know it. The war was different than now; you were a soldier back then. You’re a civilian now, whether you like it or not.” Ratchet went over to face Jazz and cleaned out the wounds before repairing the areas on his back. “First Aid is with the family now.”

The Polyhexian nodded as he stared at his servos. “That’s good. What’s going to happen to all of those families?”

“Live with relatives or move somewhere else while the team salvage what they can before rebuilding again.” Ratchet looked up as the door opened, they both looked to see who it was. “Ironhide. Hiding from Chromia again?”

Jazz chuckled while the medic just smirked. Ironhide laughed mockingly before going over to look at the damage his charge had. “No, I came to see how damaged the idiot was. Chromia might hit him this time for once when she finds out.”

“Well nothing permanent, surprisingly just a lot of cosmetic damage. A lot of the warped plating, I was able to repair without any issues. He’s fine, not as damaged like the time he thought it was important to go volcano diving to get one of Preceptor’s projects.” Ratchet tried to be angry at Jazz but seeing him laughing at himself he couldn’t do it. “There’s a small wash rack in there, clean off the ash, and then you are good to go.”

“Got it Hatch’.” Jazz slid off the berth and went into the room that Ratchet pointed at. _Wasn’t kidding when he said it was small._ He hummed as he quickly scrubbed himself clean in cool water, not wanting to irritate anything too much. _Would I be ready to see Prowl in person? No, not yet. But… maybe I should talk to Sunny and Smokey about a new frame?_


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Council FINALLY meet the leaders of the Rebellion, finding more than they were expecting. Jazz starts seeing things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs: 
> 
> Pop/Stars- K/DA  
> My Shot- Hamilton

Ch. 18

“In other news, ex-Autobot redemption?” A news reporter started her report. Prowl and his brothers all looked up from their current mission, preparing Smokescreen for his official asking to bond with Sunray. A video clip showed Jazz climbing the burning building, three breems of silence before Jazz leapt out with him getting hosed off so the medics could look at him, and a youngling was taken from his hold. “Lead fire fighter, Inferno, reported that the origin of the fire was faulty installment of a heater in one of the lower rooms of the building. There were two deactivations, all damaged Cybertronians were taken to Iacon general. Sources says that the youngling’s Carrier wasn’t aware that her daughter was home, claiming that she was with a friend playing in the park across the street while she was chatting with a neighbor. Both the femme and Ex-Autobot Jazz are reported to be fine, thanks to the team’s quick response.”

When it went to commercial, Prowl exploded and started ranting; well Prowl’s version of a rant. “The team? Jazz was the one who went in there and rescued a life. And will they stop calling him ex-Autobot, just call him Jazz.”

“Bro, this is the news, they like to warp slag. Remember when they called you a drone for not being ‘gentle’ with arresting that serial killer.” Smokescreen reminded while he wrote out his dowry. “Seriously is this what you two have to go through? War surprisingly had simpler times, I mean you and Jazz were practically mates, and Mirage and Hound were spark bonded.”

“Don’t worry, if everything goes right this will be a one-time thing. So, are you planning on deactivating your Carrier protocols?” Bluestreak asked while he organized the crystal bouquet. It was a common practice for families to be involved in putting together the permission gifts, to show that they are close, and both participants could turn to them for help. For Carrier mechs it was common for them to turn off their Carrier coding to focus as being the Sire, but it wasn’t frowned upon if they kept it active if something went wrong.

“Hm, I’m not sure. I might keep it active and talk to Ray about it, see what she wants.” He wasn’t sure what to put in the letter, so he was using their Sire’s dowry as a reference. Prowl was in charge of getting Sunray's creators' favorite treats. “So, when do you plan on going through with courting the twins? My pool has been going on forever.”

Bluestreak's wings flared and his optics darted in Prowl's direction. He shook his helm, “I did not tell him.”

“It was like a common rumor on the ARK. But neither of the twins had the bearings to ask you. So, back to my question.” The youngest mech asked playfully while sitting back with a satisfied sigh. “Okay, this alright?”

While Prowl read over the letter Bluestreak answered. “I went to Kaon after the matches and asked them for drinks sometime. Sunstreaker owns a body shop in Tyger Pax, and he mentioned this bar that Sideswipe really likes. No promises anything will happen.” He pointed at his brothers before setting the colorful bouquet down.

“Your wings say otherwise Bluestreak. Sounds plausible.” Prowl said casually before standing up with his wings shivering slightly. “I should get those sweets before the shops close up. Good luck Smokescreen, Bluestreak.” He hugged his brothers before leaving to go find the items he had on the list that Smokescreen gave him. Prowl went to several different places before finally finding a shop that made all of the items. After dropping them off with Smokescreen, Prowl went back home to hopefully get his own plans on trying to fall in good graces with Jazz again.

That night, the council planned on seeing about this rebellion that Hot Rod went to without informing the others. The group consisted of Optimus, Blaster, Ironhide, and Ratchet. When they arrived at a building that was lit up and had the bass so high that the tinted windows were vibrating. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were waiting for them outside the building, being their guides for the evening. “Hey everyone, don’t mind grumpy here. He’s upset that we’re attacking his favorite bar.” Sunstreaker said with a playful smirk at his twin who was pouting.

“We aren’t attacking Sunstreaker. We wish to speak to the owners about the war.” Optimus explained. He didn’t like being in Kaon, but he needed to get his answers. “Since you both come to Kaon mostly, what can you tell us about them?”

“Well they’re pretty young, maybe the youngest of lords here we’ve seen. Live in Soundwave’s old manor, even own all of his businesses. No one knows this, but they’re twins.” Sideswipe whispered in the group after looking around.

The medic looked at them in confusion and disbelief, “Sideswipe that is impossible. Hot Rod said that Ricochet has red optics, and we have all seen Skids’s optics. They can’t be twins, it’s impossible! Split spark twins always have the similar, almost identical _everything_. You two for example have only your auditory horns and paint jobs different, but your optics and CNA are identical.”

“Trust us Ratchet, we know how twins act. Come on, we should head inside before we draw a crowd.” Sunstreaker said as he opened the door slowly and led the group inside before stopping just short of everyone filing around the entrance. _Wow, lot more collars since last time._ He told his twin through the bond while servers were rushing around while the patrons were being rowdy Kaonions, Tarn natives, and Vosians.

 _Yeah, what’s going on?_ Sideswipe looked around, counting nearly three dozen lords and countesses in the room. “Wow, quite the party. Wonder what this is about.” He led them to a table near the bar. They all sat down while music was blaring, and bots were dancing everywhere. “Oh, hey look it looks like the bodyguards are out. Better cool it with the Tyger Pool tonight, Sunny.”

“Bodyguards?” Ironhide asked them before they pointed to a tall, bulky framed black and purple mech and then a tall lanky deep purple, almost black colored mech. Everyone but the twins were reaching for their blasters when they saw the insignias. “Decepticons, but how?”

“Don’t let them hear you call them that. You’ll end up like the last one that brought it up.” Sideswipe said softly while Sunstreaker went over to the bar to get their drinks. “Oh, Hide how’s Jazz doing? Saw him on the news.”

“Better. Where were they when we arrested the others?” Ironhide didn’t like seeing that two Decepticons were just roaming around Cybertron. He knew that the others were fearing an uprising like he was. The red mech kept his servo on his blaster if they so much as looked at them wrong. “Why didn’t you tell any of us Sideswipe? They could start something.”

Blaster held his helm, “there is so much arousal in here. It’s sickenin’.”

“Because it’s Kaon? They work for the owners, and they never leave this place.” Sideswipe said before Skids and three femmes stepped on stage. One femme looked like a black Predacon, one was a gold and white Seeker, and the final one was bright green Tarn native femme. Skids was the only one with a black band around his left thigh. “Oh, he never preforms. Well actually his brother never lets him on stage.”

“Why’s that?” Optimus asked while seeing the two Decepticons move around the room, almost as if they were looking for someone. Sunstreaker came back from the bar and sat the tray down in the center of the table. He looked at the bar and saw that the bartender was Ricochet and he was scanning the room. “Something is happening.”

Skids gave a short whistle before lifting a cloth mask over his mouth, and he put yellow visors over his optics. He jumped onto the table in front of them, which instantly snapped the Decepticons’ attentions. The lights dimmed and music started playing music, and the Autobots noticed how focused the Lords and Countesses were on Skids. The Seeker femme stepped forward, dancing in an erotic way with a small blade in her servo.

_Hey, hey, hey_

_Hey-hey-hey, hey, hey_

_You know who it is_

_Coming 'round again_

_You want a dose of this_

_Right now_

_It's R/BL, uh!_

_I'm a goddess with a blade_

_소리쳐봐_ _내_ _이름_ _잊지_ _못하게_

_Loud, loud, loud, loud_

_I could take it to the top_

_절대_ _멈추지_ _못해_ _내가_ _끝내주는_

_Bad gal, gal, gal_

_And when I start to talk like that (Like that)_

_Oh, you won't know how to react_

_I'm a picture-perfect face_

_With that wild in my veins_

_You can hear it in my_

_Growl, growl, growl, growl_

Up next was the Predacon with her large tail splitting off into four smaller ones.

_So, keep your eyes on me now_

_무엇을_ _보든_ _좋아할_ _거야_

 _닿을_ _수_ _없는_ _level_

 _나와_ _대결_ _원한_ _널_ _확신해_

_We got it all in our hands now_

_So, can you handle what we're all about?_

_We're so tough_

_Not scared to show you up_

_Can you feel the rush now?_

The Tarn femme waved her digit with a seductive expression as she slowly walked closer to the stage.

_Ain't nobody bringing us_

_Down, down, down, down, down, down_

_They could try but we're gonna wear the crown_

_You could go another round_

_Round, round, round, round, round, round_

_Wish you luck but you're not bringing us down_

_We go hard (Hard); 'til we get it, get it_

_We go hard (Hard); we so in it, in it_

_We pop stars (Pop stars), only winning, winning now_

_Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down_

_Hey!_

_You ready for this? (Let's go!)_

_See_ _언제든지_ _내_ _모습_ _magic_

 _단_ _한_ _번에_ _내가_ _잡어_

 _절대_ _기죽지_ _않지_ _, uh!_

 _Pow-pow_ _네가_ _뭘_ _알아_

 _견딜_ _수_ _없어_ _,_ _원해도_

 _원하는_ _게_ _얼굴에_ _보여_

_I'm trouble and you're wanting it_

_I'm so cold_

_When I move that way, you gonna be so blown_

_I'm the realest in the game, uh_

_Say I'm on fire with a blade_

_You're about to hear my name_

_Ringing in your head like, whoa_

_So, keep your eyes on me now_

_무엇을_ _보든_ _좋아할_ _거야_

_We're so tough_

_Not scared to show you up_

_Can you feel the rush now?_

_Ain't nobody bringing us_

_Down, down, down, down, down, down_

_They could try but we're gonna wear the crown_

_You could go another round_

_Round, round, round, round, round, round_

_Wish you luck but you're not bringing us down_

_We go hard (Hard); 'til we get it, get it_

_We go hard (Hard); we so in it, in it_

_We pop stars (Pop stars), only winning, winning now_

_Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down_

_Oh,_ _난_ _멈추지_ _않아_

_Oh, oh, we go hard_

_Oh, oh, we pop stars (Stars), stars (Stars)_

_Ain't nobody bringing us_

_Ain't nobody bringing us_

_Down, down, down, down, down, down_

_They could try but we're gonna wear the crown_

_You could go another round_

_Round, round, round, round, round, round_

_Wish you luck but you're not bringing us down_

_We go hard (Hard); 'til we get it, get it_

_We go hard (Hard); we so in it, in it_

_We pop stars (Pop stars), only winning, winning now_

_Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down_

The femmes on stage sang the song up until the lights shut off and fluorescent designs appeared where Skids was, almost as if it was a target. He started rapping, and when the lights flickered on, he was on a different table. After the song was over and the lights were back on, Blaster saw that one of the supposedly ex-Cons was gone along with nearly twenty collared slaves. “Wait, guys we’re missin' bots.”

“Primus you’re right. How did they get passed us?!” Ratchet tried to keep his voice quiet, but he was just so shocked by the sudden disappearances. Skids was jumping to another table, successfully landing on it before one of the Lords decided to test his boundaries and grabbed his leg.

“Hey, hey get your grubby servos off! Tarn!” The young Praxian shouted as he tried to pull his leg away. As soon as the name was called out, the large mech stormed over and pulled the mech off the table with a loud growl. He didn’t give the mech much of a fighting chance as he rammed his knee into the smaller mech’s back. “Tarn, Tarn stop it. Slag it, Tarn look at me.”

Tarn whipped his helm in the mech’s direction, and the Autobots were getting ready to fight. They stared at each other, his wings were held up high with his mask and visors being removed, and Tarn threw the body to the ground before he looked at the other guests at the table. “Any of you touch him again, I won’t be so nice. As payment for touching without permission, I’m taking all of his slaves.”

“What, you can’t do that! That’s fifty slaves, a touch isn’t worth fifty of them!” A Vos Countess stood up with her wings flared. Ricochet hopped over the bar with a blaster launching up from a hidden compartment on his thigh and into his servo. He walked up behind her and pressed the barrel against her helm.

“Do you want me to shoot you and take your slaves too Seeker? Or how about publicly humiliate you by stripping your wings? You’re stressing out my slave, my customers, and you are refusing payment. We wouldn’t want to make me angry, now would we?” He growled with his digits casually curling around the edges of a wing.

The enter room was silent as the femme said nothing for a long time. “No. we wouldn’t.”

The Polyhexian smiled before releasing his hold on the appendage. “Vos, go get my new slaves and take them home for repairs. Drinks on the house!” He threw his servos in the air and the crowd cheered. _You okay Skids? I think we should have dialed down on the secret ingredient._

 _I’m fine, just startled. Is everyone else safe?_ He got back on the stage before standing at the front of the stage with his digits curling around the microphone. Skids watched Tarn pick up the body of the Lord, taking him to the back. He was only glad that he was able to pull the mech out of his aggression. The brothers knew that any longer and then there would have been a blood bath.

 _All of the slaves are being transported now. We’ll erase their memories after this song. We have to move fast tonight. Something is wrong with the failsafe; I can feel it._ The Polyhexian watched Tarn carefully, knowing that he was going to stick extra close to his twin as he calmed down more. After the Decepticons onlined from near deactivation, Ricochet could hear the ex-DJD leader’s thoughts on Skids. At first, he told the mech to not even think about it, because he didn’t trust Decepticons or mechs that came from the same city as his Sire did. Now, he was reluctantly okay with them being awkwardly flirty around each other.

 _Alright. I think I’m going to stay on stage for this one._ The lights all turned off except for a spotlight on the Praxian. His wings were lowered as he slowly looked up, looking directly at the Autobots’ optics. They knew they were here the moment Ricochet could hear their thoughts. The music started and four more lights turned on stage, with four mechs appearing on stage beside the mech.

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_Hey yo, I’m just like my city_

_I’m young, scrappy and hungry_

_And I’m not throwing away my shot_

_Imma get a scholarship to King’s College_

_I prob’ly shouldn’t brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish_

_The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish_

_I gotta holler just to be heard_

_With every word, I drop knowledge_

_I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal_

_Tryin’ to reach my goal my power of speech, unimpeachable_

_Only nineteen but my mind is older_

_These Kaon streets get colder, I shoulder_

_Every burden, every disadvantage_

_I have learned to manage; I don’t have a gun to brandish_

_I walk these streets famished_

_The plan is to fan this spark into a flame_

_But damn, it’s getting dark, so let me spell out the name_

_I am the R-E-B-E-L-L-I-O-N we are meant to be_

_A colony that runs independently_

_Meanwhile, Kaon keeps shittin’ on us endlessly_

_Essentially, they tax us relentlessly_

_Then King Cog turns around, runs a spending spree_

_He ain’t ever gonna set his descendants free_

_So, there will be a revolution in this century_

_Enter me, he says in parentheses_

_Don’t be shocked when your hist’ry book mentions me_

_I will lay down my life if it sets us free_

_Eventually, you’ll see my ascendancy_

_And I am not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_Hey yo, I’m just like my city_

_I’m young, scrappy and hungry_

_And I’m not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_Hey yo, I’m just like my city_

_I’m young, scrappy and hungry_

_And I’m not throwing away my shot_

_It’s time to take a shot_

_I dream of life without a monarchy_

_The unrest in Vos will lead to onarchy?_

_Onarchy how you say, how you say, anarchy?_

_When I fight, I make the other side panicky_

_With my, shot_

_Yo, I’m a welder’s apprentice_

_And I got y’all knuckleheads in loco parentis_

_I’m joining the rebellion 'cause I know it’s my chance_

_To socially advance, instead of weldin' some parts_

_I’m gonna take a shot_

_But we’ll never be truly free_

_Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me_

_You and me. Do or die. Wait till I sally in_

_On a stallion with the first mixed battalion_

_Have another shot_

_Geniuses, lower your voices_

_You keep out of trouble and you double your choices_

_I’m with you, but the situation is fraught_

_You’ve got to be carefully taught_

_If you talk, you’re gonna get shot_

_Sir, check what we got_

_Mister Lafayette, hard rock like Lancelot_

_I think your parts look hot_

_Mixer, I like you a lot_

_Let’s hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin’ the pot_

_What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot?_

_Poppin’ a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not_

_A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists?_

_Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is!_

Then there was silence as the lights all shined on Skids as he covered his mouth in shock. Then he acted embarrassed by his shouting.

_Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?_

_Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth_

_I never had a group of friends before_

_I promise that I’ll make y’all proud_

_Let’s get this guy in front of a crowd_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_Hey yo, I’m just like my country_

_I’m young, scrappy and hungry_

_And I’m not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_Hey yo, I’m just like my country_

_I’m young, scrappy and hungry_

_And I’m not throwing away my shot_

_Everybody sing_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa_

_Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa_

_Ay, let ‘em hear ya_

_Let’s go_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa I said shout it to the rooftops_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa said, to the rooftops_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa come on_

_Come on, let’s go_

_Rise up_

_When you’re living on your knees, you rise up_

_Tell your brother that he’s gotta rise up_

_Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up_

_When are these colonies gonna rise up?_

_When are these colonies gonna rise up?_

_When are these colonies gonna rise up?_

_When are these colonies gonna rise up?_

_Rise up_

_I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory_

_When’s it gonna get me?_

_In my sleep, seven feet ahead of me?_

_If I see it comin’, do I run, or do I let it be?_

_Is it like a beat without a melody?_

_See, I never thought I’d live past twenty_

_Where I come from some get half as many_

_Ask anybody why we livin’ fast and we laugh, reach for a flask_

_We have to make this moment last, that’s plenty_

_Scratch that this is not a moment, it’s the movement_

_Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went?_

_Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand_

_We roll like Primus, claimin’ our promised land_

_And? If we win our independence?_

_‘Zat a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?_

_Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?_

_I know the action in the street is excitin'_

_But Prime, between all the bleedin’ ‘n fightin’_

_I’ve been readin’ ‘n writin’_

_We need to handle our financial situation_

_Are we a nation of states? What’s the state of our nation?_

_I’m past patiently waitin' I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation_

_Every action’s an act of creation_

_I’m laughin' in the face of casualties and sorrow_

_For the first time, I’m thinkin’ past tomorrow_

_And I am not throwing away my shot_

_I am not throwing away my shot_

_Hey yo, I’m just like my country_

_I’m young, scrappy and hungry_

_And I’m not throwing away my shot_

_We’re gonna rise up (time to take a shot)_

_We’re gonna rise up (time to take a shot)_

_We’re gonna, rise up, rise up_

_It's time to take a shot_

_Rise up, rise up, it's time to take a shot_

_Rise up, it's time to take a shot_

_Rise up, take a shot, shot, shot_

_It's time to take a shot, time to take a shot_

_And I am not throwing away my shot_

_Not throwing away my shot_

Skids and the others bowed before Ricochet climbed on the stage as he placed his mask over his face. His frame changed into his Meister colors; Skids walked over to the table where the Autobots were. “Wow, we really got Optimus to finally come out here. Come on, I’ll be able to answer your questions.” He turned with Tarn soon on his heel with his helm tilting very slightly.

“Prime?” Ironhide asked their leader while the others silently watched the Prime.

“Come on, we’re going to get our answers. But be on guard.” The Prime stood up, following after the two mechs. The others trailed after their leader into what appeared to be a prepping area. Skids walked over to a steel door that had a number pad beside it, punched in a few numbers, and the door opened up. “What happened to all of the slaves? You’re not as skittish as you appeared to be the last time we met.”

The blue Praxian’s wings twitched as he smiled softly over his shoulder. “Sometimes if you fake confidence it keeps the creeps off your tailpipe. And they’re safe, away from the monsters that hurt them.”

“And what about you? You’re not exactly free with that thing around you. And what about the Con?” Ironhide revved his engines as he tried to size up Tarn, who had bent down and growled with a servo getting ready to attack, but Skids stepped between them and he stopped his attack.

“Tarn, focus on me. Ironhide is just a grumpy old mech, who just wants an excuse to shoot you. We’re all on the same side.” He grabbed the sides of his helm, forcing him to look into his optics. “You okay T?”

The mech grumbled but nodded as he stepped away. “Call me a Con again, and I’ll show you why we were feared by Megatron’s army.” He growled before walking down the stairs.

“If he isn’t a Con, then why do they have Megatron's brand?” Ratchet asked while Skids turned lights on as they walked down the long staircase.

“Rebels like my brother. And like I told Councilor Hot Rod, it's just for show. Because unlike Ricochet, I don’t have Tarn CNA in my coding. Got a bit of something else, but none of it is visible. That's why our operation has been so successful; all of the Lords and Countesses think that my brother, Tarn, and Vos are trying to cause an uprising.” The young mech opened the door that was at the bottom of the staircase.

“And what exactly is this operation and rebellion we've been told so much about? Hot Rod was too excited to really explain.” Ironhide said. Blaster was looking around as the door opened up to a large underground hangar. There were tunnels that had every city's glyphs carved over each one, indicating which tunnel led where. There were cots everywhere, separate rooms that had medics bot Cybertronian and drone helping patients. “Woah.”

Skids spun on his heel as he swung an arm behind him. “Welcome to the rebellion Optimus Prime. We are finishing what you have started. Freeing every slave from the hold of their master. We help everyone that wants to be helped, give them a steady job, home, and anything they medically need. If they have family members, then we locate, and make contact for them.”

“This explains the spikes in population growth. Skids, what you do is admirable, but we can't afford to house every single Cybertronian you all save.” Optimus tried to explain, but the Praxian wasn’t going to have it.

“Optimus Prime. They really brought the Prime here.” Some of the slaves and rebels all looked up at the Prime with hope. There were even younglings and sparklings looking up with excitement. “Carrier, does it mean we can go home to Sire?”

“Skids, we have a problem. We're out of medics, and I have a Seeker trine already to spark.” A medic rushed over with his orange optics glancing in a room that was tinted up for privacy.

“Where's Data?” Skids asked hurriedly.

“With that Predacon that _just_ had hatchlings.”

Ratchet couldn’t stand by while someone needed help. “I'll come help. I'm a medic.”

“Ratchet?” Ironhide looked at the old medic in slight shock.

“It's a code I live by Ironhide. They need my help. Come on we have to hurry.” And with that Ratchet and the other medic rushed off to deal with a trine delivery. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker ran off after Ratchet to keep an optic on him.

Two femme Velocitrons rushed over with their fields flaring up. “Skids, the Velocity tunnel is blocked off from a collapse up top. And we had a team with younglings going there.”

“Why now does everything have to go haywire?” The Praxian rubbed his helm as he tried to think. Blaster could almost see him being related to Prowl with the face he was making and the way his wings going rigid. “Okay, get every capable Velocitron over to the rubble. Phase every youngling through the other side. We'll get the Tyger Pax team to destroy the rubble once the young are cleared. How long do we have before their speed matrixes die?”

They looked at each other before answering. “A breem.”

“And there are twenty. Go now, we don't have time to waste.” Skids gave out his orders, and nearly a dozen colored blurs rushed by. Meister walked past the group as he removed his mask. “Yo, Rico. You pushed yourself again didn't you?”

The Polyhexian waved behind him as he coughed into his servo. _Shh, too many thoughts. I need to go lay down._ “I'm kay. Just so many thoughts; dark, dark thoughts.”

“Okay, you're not going to be able to escort the Helix team like this. Come on.” Skids threw his brother's arm over his shoulders and pulled him into his arms. _Optimus wants us to stop._

“Hate Bots. Cowards the lot of ya. Care ‘bout selves.” Ricochet said before coughing more. _You have the Praxus team to escort, you can't do Helix too. Just give me a moment to recover._

 _Yer walls are down, which means ya can hear meh. Dah failsafe in Jazz's processor wants meh tah help with yer telepathy. But give meh one good reason why Ah should?_ Blaster asked as they followed Skids to a room that opened up to Halifax’s shop. “Wh- How did we get all dah way across Kaon?”

“Time displacement tunnel. Vos and I built it. If we're done trying to convince you to save innocent lives, then I suggest you leave. The stories that our… that Jazz told about what good the Autobots were doing, I guess were just fairytales.” Skids grabbed a cloth from the table in front of them and wiped the energon from his brother's face. _Don't worry Rico, I'm not going to let them find out and take you away from me._

Ricochet gave a stressed chuckle and stared up at the ceiling. “You make it sound like I'm going to let them separate us. You idiot, family will always be there for each other. Councilor Blaster, you want to know why I don't want your help? I have been managing well all by myself since Jazz stopped coming back.” He sat up slowly as he coughed into his fist with no energon coming out. “And like my brother asked you all very nicely, leave us alone. Take the tunnel to Iacon and never come back.”

“Ya need tah better control yerself Ricochet, or ya could damage yer mind. Another overload like dis, and ya might fall into a coma or worse premature deactivation.” Blaster was getting entirely devoted into helping the mech.

“You aren't my Sire, Councilor! Just because some failsafe asked for you to help me in something I was forced to have does _not_ mean you get to suddenly care for either of us! None of you knew we existed because our Carrier was terrified of what you would do to us! He was afraid you'd turn me out because of who my Sire is!” Ricochet stood on his peds and pointed an accusatory digit at them.

“Your Carrier was afraid of us?” Optimus looked at them as Ricochet turned his back to them. On his left shoulder was a silver glyph brand. “That glyph, what does it mean?”

“Redemption. Our Carrier had nothing but us, but then he disappeared. And Jazz is our only hope in finding him. And have our family once again.” He touched the glyph before he shook his helm and cleared his voice box. He went over to a desk that had layers of dust on the top of it. The Polyhexian pulled a drawer open and pulled out a snow globe with a mini piano inside it. “Here, give this to him. Tell him whatever you want, but just make sure he gets that.”

 _Rico, are you sure? Carrier gave it to you before he left._ Skids frowned as he watched his brother set the object on the table in front of the three mechs. The Praxian’s wings fell as he watched Blaster pick it up. He dropped the barrier from his processor. _Blaster, please help my brother. I don't want him to end up like his Sire. He's all I have._

 _Ah can only help if he wants it, Ah'm sorry._ Blaster replied before looking at Optimus and Ironhide. “We should get Ratch’ and dah twins.”

Optimus nodded as he looked at the two brothers one last time before following his companions back out. They retrieved their friends, and then left Kaon. The Council gathered together, and they caught the others up on what happened. They even had Bluestreak involved since they mentioned therapists.

“I've been so busy with the increase in client requests, I didn't even think about. All of them fully covered for the next three deci-vorns. A lot of my cases are the same; runaway slave from old Decepticon cities, some with or without illegitimate creations, and they all had a friend helping them out with housing.” Bluestreak explained as he leaned forward while they reviewed the recording. “I can't believe this operation has been going on without anyone noticing.”

“That's because Ricochet, Meister, or whatever he goes by made this solid plan. Lure targets in, distract them while the slaves are taken to their base, and then scattered around Cybertron while their masters' minds are wiped of them.” Ratchet pointed out as he folded his servos on the table. “The mech is stubborn, endangering not only himself but Skids. He could potentially kill both if he doesn't learn to control his telepathy.”

Blaster was looking at the snow globe in his servo in thought. He turned it over and saw a small dial hidden out of view. The Host started turning it until it couldn't turn anymore. Once the dial was no longer able to wind up, it started playing a song. Inside the tiny piano started playing as the fake snow started dancing inside. There was a soft humming coming from it.

“I recognize that hum.” Ironhide instantly sat up when the gentle hum resonated. “That's Torch, Jazz's Carrier.” There was silence before a light-hearted chuckle before a happy sigh.

 _“Okay, okay little one. Just one more time.”_ And then the piano played all over again. There was silence as it ended with Torch saying, _“sweet dreams my little spark.”_

“What is going on? We need answers from them, and I mean straight answers.” Ultra Magnus said with a servo smacking the table and a digit stabbing into the table. He looked at Ratchet with a frown, “Ratchet what were you able to get from being there?”

The medic leaned forward with a datapad in his servo. “I was able to meet with the drone that Jazz had gotten during the war. His name’s Data and he was _very_ chatty, and he told me that he delivered both of them. So, they are twins, but I have never seen them look so different. Unless they have a creator with blue optics and the other has red optics? But they said that they have different Sires, a trine maybe?”

“When have you heard of a trine with the members with different CNA? Skids said he had no Tarn in him, and he looks like a pure Praxian.” Ironhide looked at his friend.

Bluestreak rose a digit before speaking, “to non-Praxians he looks like a pure Praxian, but his wings are shorter. He kind of looks like a Carrier mech.” He pulled up a 3D hologram of Skids and rotated him to have his back to him. He zoomed in on his wings before circling near the interior corner of the bottom panel. “Yeah, see right here it's a secondary hinge only Carriers have. When they are carrying it activates and they use the extra width to block anyone from seeing their sparkling.”

“Interesting. That could also explains why Tarn stuck to close to him.” Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought.

“What are we going to do about the Decepticons? We can't just let them remain in public.” Elita-One looked at her mate for his opinion. Optimus was spacing out until he subconsciously felt the stares. He shook his helm and his mate repeated herself.

The Prime didn't know what to do. “They are trying to erase slavery from their cities, but in doing so it's risking our cities with over population. All of those Cybertronians looking at me as if I could free them. If Tarn and Vos truly are not leaving Kaon, then until further notice they can stay there.”

“Am Ah dah only one who noticed how similar Ricochet's colors are to Jazz's? Or Skids talkin' ‘about fakin' confidence?” Blaster was worried for Jazz's safety, but something inside him told him these mechs weren't dangerous. _Rewind, are ya still with Jazz?_

 _Yeah, we're watching movies in the living room. He made us all treat boxes to take home!_ The symbiont answered excitedly with his side of the bond reflecting that. Blaster silently chuckled at his creation, he sent a burst of joy, letting him know that they could take them home.

“Blaster, we already know these mechs are obsessed with Jazz. I mean Ricochet has Light's mask and practically copied his moves.” Ultra Magnus looked at the Host, but the mech just wasn't having it. He was going to have to talk to Mirage about it.

 _Eject, find Raj and tell him Ah need tah talk tah him._ Blaster gave out his order before they continued the meeting. Bluestreak was dismissed after the topic of Jazz and these strange mechs. He was heading for the door, but then stopped and looked at Ratchet. “Ratchet, remind me again, what is standard procedure for a Carrier after having the sparkling?”

“Well after the sparkling is delivered its spark needs their Carrier's spark energy to jump start all of their systems. Which creates a low level bond between them until the sparkling is in its third youngling upgrade. It also changes their spark from blue to a pale white.” Ratchet explained with his servos folding on the table. “Why?”

The Praxian folded his arms before asking his next question. “And what of the Carrier? Will their spark change at all? What if they don't bond what happens to the sparkling?”

The medic shifted in his spot uncomfortably. “The Carrier's spark would change to a white as well. Well usually if the spark merging doesn't happen, then there is no bond, and it makes the sparkling more susceptible to viruses without a heavy duty boost from a medic. Can I ask why you are asking?”

“Jazz was often going to some top secret mission to Europe, and none of us questioned him? Maybe we should look into that before we call these mechs stalkers and criminals.” Bluestreak smiled with his wings flicking and let the council alone.

Jazz was playing a board game with the Cassetticons before he heard a collection of giggles. His helm shot up and turned to where the giggles came from, a pair of tiny wings disappeared from behind the wall. He stood up and went after the intruder very quietly. The Cassetticons all stared at their temporary guardian with confusion and opened their bonds to their creator.

“Hey, come back here! It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you.” Jazz called after before seeing a pair of blue optics and a pair of red optics peek around the doorway. The Polyhexian felt a rush of fear flood his systems. He looked down and saw his arms coated with energon, and he shouted before backing up into the hall as he tried to wipe the energon off.

“Jazz, you're okay. Whatever you're seeing, isn't real.” Eject tried to pull Jazz out of his memory flux with Slamdance helping him pull his arms away. Jazz crumbled to the floor as he held his helm as he cried. The bipedals hugged the larger mech, letting him know he was safe.

The visored mech felt cool air around his legs and when he looked down, he saw two tiny frames hugging his legs with soft chirps. Jazz's servos went over the ghostly helms, finding it oddly calming to him. “It's okay, I'm okay. We're safe.”

“What happened?” Eject continued to hold onto the Polyhexian even though he could feel his side of the bond calming down. The mech shook his helm before he laid his helm back against the small table that he bumped into when he fell. “Wanna go play again?”

“Yeah, give me a sec ‘ject.” Jazz looked at the mech with a smile forced and his helm tilted to the side. He took a few more calming intakes before standing up and picked up the two mechs. “Alright let's play some more.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prowl tells Jazz about his first sparkling and meets the failsafe. Jazz meets Meister.

Ch. 19

Bluestreak was sitting in his chair adjacent of the small sofa that Jazz was laying on. He watched the mech's progress on the monitor as they tried a new exercise. They would look at old memory, Bluestreak would use Jazz's EM field to feel and write it down, and then Jazz would close it on his own to tell him that he was safe. Jazz was about to pull out before he stopped when he heard the happy giggles of a sparkling.

“What in the world? Jazz, pull out.” The therapist watched Jazz walk out of the memory through a crawlspace that had appeared out of thin air. “What in the- Jazz come on.”

_“It's time for me to go my little stars, but I promise to bring back some fun things from Earth.” Jazz said softly as he sat on the edge of what looked like a makeshift berth. He leaned over who he was talking to and hugged them with love. “Remember what I said?”_

_“Uhuh. We are millions of light years away, but we can still find each other at the big blue star. When do we get to meet Sire?” A bright but also curious voice came from the shadowed figure with blue optics._

_There was a bit of sadness from Jazz as he looked like he was in pain from thinking about it. “We don't get to meet Sire do we?” A shadowy figure with red optics asked. The two figures were distinguishable enough to see their unique shapes, but details were still fuzzy._

_“Co, what did I say about reading my mind without my permission? And you will get to meet Sire, you just might be older. It depends on what the new Council says about me.” Jazz went to stand up, but the red opticed shadow jumped up with a fist in the air._

_“Then I will tell them that if they don't give you back that they're a bunch of meanies. And Skids and I will throw big tantrums if they don’t let us meet Sire!” His excitement got the mech beside him to jump up and copy his stance. “We're gonna be better Autobots than all of ‘em!”_

_“Yeah!” The other said with even more excitement._

_Jazz started laughing as he laid the youngling sized shadows back down. “Oh yeah? Better than all of us? Even Optimus?”_

_“Better than… better than Ratchet!” The blue optics threw his tiny arms in the air._

_“Wow, that takes a lot of strength to be better than Ratchet. Now it's time for my little Autobots to get their recharge. Good night my loves.”_

Jazz sat up with a loud gasp and was venting hard. He jumped onto his peds and pointed at the blank screen. “What was that!? None of that happened in my memory before! I know that manor like the back of my slagging servo, and there was no hidden door in the study!”

“Sometimes our subconscious will link memories to others if they have any correlation. In this particular memory, Soundwave was talking to you about sparklings with you. In this memory, you were taking care of sparklings. Do you recognize them?” Bluestreak had to look naïve to those obviously being Skids and Ricochet. He added before letting Jazz speak. “It's amazing, after only exchanging letters and gifts with Prowl, your memory blocks are being removed. Given it's when you recall old memories, just imagine what could happen if you met in person.”

Jazz sat down with his field flaring nervously, “I'm not ready to see him. Just a bit longer of this. I recognize one of the names, Skids, I met him at that party, but before that? I don’t know. The way I was interacting with them, it looked like I really cared for them, but who are they?”

“Can you tell me about your mission to Europe? Blaster and Ironhide mentioned that sometimes when you're recharging, you talk about Europe a lot.” Bluestreak leaned against the arm of the chair. The alarm next to him rang, and he turned it off. “Why don't we save it for next time? I'm really proud of you Jazz, I feel like we're making real progress.”

The Polyhexian smiled as they stood up. He opened his subspace and pulled out a small package. “Could you give this to Prowl? I wasn't sure if I wanted to give it to you to give to him now or not, but… yeah. Thanks Blue, for this.”

The Praxian took the small package with a smile and subspaced it. “I'll be sure to tease him endlessly. And you're a part of my circle, I'll have your back regardless of what happens between you and my brother.”

 _Paxians have circles? Are you in my circle?_ Jazz heard a very young voice in his helm. He shook his helm before hugging the Praxian, and then leaving with a pep in his step. Outside the small office building that Bluestreak worked at on the end cycles, was Hound. The Polyhexian's smile grew more and he hugged the green mech in a friendly hug. “Hound, what are you doing here?”

He jumped down with a small laugh. Hound laughed with him and tilted his helm to the side as he felt Jazz's field pulse happily. “You're so bouncy, what did Bluestreak give you? Well Raj, Blue, and Bee have hung out with you, so I figured it's my turn. Today must be a good day.”

“I wish I got something, but it just was a good session. Well aside from this weird memory we looked at. Well now that I mention it, it's been happening a lot lately. Keep seeing sparklings, always the same two.” Jazz laughed and waved his servo in the air. “But it's probably just the heat cycle messing with me.”

 _Confirmed sparklings._ Hound told his mate through their bond before smiling at his ex-commander. “Can I ask, do you miss Ops or being an Autobot?”

“Being in it, sure. Commanding? Not really. I mean it was exciting to be in charge, but I'm not a leader. I miss bein a Bot… a lot, but I can't be one again.” Jazz frowned slightly as he answered. They started walking up the street, Jazz spun on his heel to look at the mech. Hound knew this form of action, it meant Jazz was going to work his magic to get into his target's processor. “Raj sent you to come check on me, didn't he? Whatever he's needing from me, I told him and everyone else that keeps asking me all I know. I don’t remember anything between Megatron telling me to kill Prime and me telling Prime that I was the mole. Sure, there are things I do remember, but there are holes in every memory.”

“He doesn't know I'm here Jazz. I came on my own.” Hound said confidently, but the Polyhexian threw his helm back with a mocking laugh.

“Ah ain't an idiot Hound. You and Mirage have been chipping paint since I joined the brigade, maybe longer. I really don't remember anything on whatever it is I blocked from myself. All I know is that Prowl is the key, but he isn't coming anywhere near my processor until I can trust myself.” Jazz explained as a servo went to his chest. He stopped in front of a display window and tilted his helm. On a small pedestal was a small pearly white box with silver trimming. _Just turn the key and an angel will sing._

Hound stood beside Jazz and saw how hard he was staring at the object. “We could go inside and get it.”

The Polyhexian's visors shuttered as he shook his helm. “Naw, I'm okay. Just reminded me of something. Ironhide did however give me a long aft list to get from the store. Seriously he would be deactivated without Chromia and I.” He laughed as he pulled out a datapad with a list of items they needed for the house.

 _Reacted to a box in the display._ Hound snickered at Jazz's comment. “Probably. At least you're not living with a noble that hasn't let go of his ops training. The detailers have to make me hold Raj down.”

“Eh same. I'm no longer an unbalanced idiot. Found some nifty hiding spots when Ironhide wants to take me to bars.” He hummed happily. The scout was slowly becoming weirded out by how happy Jazz was. It was almost too happy.

 _I can't believe this is working. Keep it up Jazz until Hound leaves._ He tilted his helm and he snuck a glance over his shoulder. Jazz looked around for an exit. Hound felt how tense Jazz's field was and went to ask him what was wrong. The breeze changed direction, and he caught a whiff of Meister. “Follow me.”

Hound took Jazz's servo and led him through the crowded sidewalk. He turned through an alley, stopping in front of a large dumpster. ::Trailbreaker, open up the entrance.::

::Copy.:: Trailbreaker said before the dumpster started transforming and separated to reveal a hidden doorway. Jazz was in awe by how hidden this was. He was being pulled inside when he looked back at the main sidewalk and saw an all-black mech that had his Sire's mask.

“Sire?” Jazz went to talk to this mech, but Hound pulled him inside and he shouted as the entrance was closed in front of him. “Hound, why am I here? Where are we? How is Light here?”

“That wasn't Black light, that was Meister. Don't ask me how he got Light's mask, because no one knows. And this is one of the tunnels Ops uses to avoid being spotted. Off the grid.” Hound explained as he started running. _Meister is getting more aggressive with his sightings._

Jazz ran after the green mech with a frown. “His mask was with my stuff, but Prime said none of my stuff was on base. What does Meister want with me?”

“Don’t know really. Says you can help them find someone. Apparently you saved him and his brother.” He shrugged before another door spiraled opened, and Jazz felt like he was in ops heaven. He saw security cameras showing live footage everywhere, terminals with various things on screen.

“Jazz, what are you doing here?!” Trailbreaker stood up in shock when he saw the mech look around in awe.

“Jazz?” Bumblebee's voice came from the room, and he flipped down from the ceiling. He ran to his friend and hugged him excitedly. “Jazz, you're really here.”

The Polyhexian hugged the mech back with a nod. “Yeah, and nice double front flip. Better than they used to.” He said teasingly, and the yellow mech shoved him playfully. “Hound, really I appreciate your concern for my safety, but I can take care of myself.”

“What's going on?” Trailbreaker asked when he joined the group in the middle of the room. The lights and all of the electronics had a hard shut down. “I upgraded the alarms just a deca-cycle ago.”

There was the sound of metal scraping against metal, and sparks were the only thing illuminating the room. Jazz saw a figure walk close to them until a pair of red optics were meeting his gaze. “Are you afraid Autobot second-in-command Jazz?”

“N-" He cleared his voice box and stood up straight. “No. I don't know what you want with me, but I will not let you hurt me or my friends.” Jazz instinctively reached behind his back until he remembered that he didn't have any rights to weapons. _Really miss my rifle._

“You want your rifle? Come to Kaon, I'll fix you without that Praxian.” The mech walked closer before stopping in front of them.

 _How did he-._ Jazz's optics widened and he started building up walls in his processor, but memories of Soundwave were causing his field to flare up in fear. “Get out of my helm.”

“You should be afraid of me. After all I was sired by that monster. I'm just like him. You filled my processor of dreams that I could ever be an Autobot. But they wouldn't accept me, just like they wouldn't accept my brother, they don't accept you. That's why you've been waiting for a chance to run.” Meister leaned in close to Jazz's receptor and whispered before going on. “Failsafe.”

::Hound, we can't just let him do this to Jazz.:: Bumblebee said over their comlinks.

::I know, but we could hurt Jazz. Just wait for the backup generators to start up.:: Hound said before he heard a growl and they activated their headlights. They saw Jazz pinning Meister with his servo going around his neck, and a digit pointing in his face. “Jazz?”

“Are ya tryin' tah get yerself killed!? Ya idiot, Ah give ya one _simple_ order. Let meh work at my own pace. Stay in Kaon, keep yerself and yer brother safe until Ah have a chance tah tell everyone. If yer Sire finds out about ya, he _will_ get out of Newgate, and then come for all of us.” Jazz dropped the mech and shouted in frustration.

“Well they are causing you more pain than helping. What good have the Autobots done for any of us!? We have been with you since the beginning! You've got the tickets the second Prowl frags up, and I know he is. All he cares about is work, he doesn't care about us! And so, what if my Sire finds out, I'll kill him before he can lay a digit on you.” Meister argued before Jazz back handed him. Startling everyone, including Meister.

“They have done more for dis family than Ah deserve. Give meh a deca-cycle Co, a deca-cycle then ya can come get meh. But ya _will_ stay out of dis until then. Dat means goin’ tah Blaster and learnin’ tah control yer telepathy. Do not pull dis kind of stunt again, do ya hear meh?” The failsafe could already feel himself being pushed in the back of his processor, but he was determined to hear the mech respond to him.

Meister grumbled and nodded. “Yes sir. A deca-cycle and then we are leaving Cybertron.” He tapped the side of Jazz's helm and he collapsed into his arms. The mech laid the Polyhexian on the ground and disappeared with the power returning. When they could see properly, Hound rushed over to Jazz as the other two mechs were trying to find the intruder.

“Jazz, Jazz wake up.” Hound shook Jazz, watching him stir with a groan. His visors powered on when his optics opened.

“What happened?” He groaned as he slowly sat up and looked around to see all three of the mechs looking at him, all baffled. Jazz stood up slowly despite the ache in his processor. “What?”

“What do you remember Jazz?” The green mech asked with concern. _How could he forget all of that!? The way he talked, moved, frag even his attacks were similar to how he acted during the war._

Jazz crossed his arms with his field closed tightly. “Meister telling me to be afraid of him. That I filled his processor of the Autobots ever accepting him and his brother. Are you all okay though? He didn't hurt you?”

“No, we're all good. He keeps getting into our base, and we've been updating the everything.” Trailbreaker said as he sat in a chair with a tired groan. “We don't know how he does it.”

“He's telepathic, is he looking in your processors? He was so… hurt and alone.” Jazz put a servo to his chest, his spark clenched tightly in its chamber. The Polyhexian looked down at his peds and saw a memory appear in front of him.

_“We don’t want you to go, why do you have to go? We’re not strong enough to find you.” A pair of red optics looked up at Jazz with the rims of his optics rimmed with tears. The tiny arms wrapped around his legs. “What if Sire finds me? You promised you wouldn’t leave us.”_

_“I have to Co, if any of the Decepticons find out about you or your brother, they will do a lot of evil things to you. And I’m not going to forget you, remember what I told you? Data is just going to put a door in front of my memories.” The Polyhexian knelt down in front of the shadowy figure, wrapping him in his arms tightly. “Keep all three of you safe and hidden until the war is over. Remember what I said about the voices?”_

_The helm nodded, “if they get too loud, hide my face and pretend I’m closing the door. You’ll come back and we can be a family again?”_

_“I promise little star.”_

Jazz pulled out of the memory, stumbling backwards. “I need to go. I need to go right now.” The Polyhexian looked at the mechs with determination in his voice. He was getting impatient with all of these memories coming to light, but it left him with even more questions.

“Jazz, if this mech could be a danger to you.” Bumblebee was interrupted by Jazz picking up a screwdriver and threw it past his helm. The scout looked at the tool get lodged into the wall. “Okay, we’ll take you back to Ironhide’s.”

The Polyhexian was escorted back to his home, and he gave a quick good-bye before shutting himself inside his room. He grabbed a datapad that he had hidden under his pillow and turned it on with his hardline cable going straight into the port. After Jazz uploaded the memory to the datapad he tucked the cable away and started the memory files from the very beginning in hopes of finding out the answers out for himself. His comlink beeped as the memory of talking about the origins of these strange younglings’ Sires was playing. He paused it with slight annoyance.

::Yeah?::

::Well geez someone had bad energon. I just wanted to let you know that the pieces you asked for are done, and that I was going to be shipping them off to Sunstreaker to paint them.:: Tracks said with a grumble.

Jazz sat up quickly with excitement in his systems once more. ::Really? Thank you so much Tracks, you have no idea how much this means to me.:: He gave a relieved sigh as he could finally check that task off his list. The front door opened and Ironhide’s grumbling followed after. ::I gotta go but thank you so much for do this.::

The Polyhexian went out to the hall, seeing the other door opened. He went to the door with a small laugh at the splatters of paint colored on his frame. “Normally I would suspect the twins, but seeing as we aren’t on the ARK it isn’t them?”

“No, some protestors from Kaon. They’re wanting a seat in the council. And was vandalizing the statue outside the council building, and I got caught in the crossfire of the paint cans being thrown around.” Ironhide started removing his arsenal from his frame while turning to face the mech. “You seem awfully happy, mail won’t be coming for a while because of the week-long rain that’s heading our way. Already hit Velocity and Helix.”

“Actually, Tracks commed me when you got back, about my new frame. Sunny and Sides should be getting it soon. So, if you don’t mind my asking, why doesn’t the Council contain a representative from the other cities?” Jazz tilted his helm with a lax posture.

The red mech sat the large cannons on his berth with a groan. “Well that’s because the Council is strictly Iacon.”

“But you pour resources and time to try and solve problems in other cities. Wouldn’t it be smarter to hear the voices coming from the sources?” The visored mech asked in confusion. “That’s what the old Council had to deal with, they all came from one place and believed they knew the problems throughout the entire planet.”

“Jazz.” Ironhide said warningly, and Jazz shook his helm.

“I'm not going to start a secret club to overthrow the Council. I'm speaking from the viewpoint of a mech that experienced the other side of the totem pole. Optimus, all through the war preached of equality for all Cybertronians, but looking at it all where is the equality? You need to step back and look at the whole picture, the rioters are screaming that in your face. They want to be heard.” Jazz pushed himself away from the wall before leaving to go set up for the storm that was coming.

Day two of the storm, and Jazz was sitting at the table in the dining room with a pad and stylus. He was tapping the stylus against his helm as he started humming softly to himself. Ironhide was in the living room watching a movie, subtly listening to the mech hum to himself. “Whatcha doing over there kid?”

“Feeling inspired. Gotta write it down before I forget.” Jazz laughed softly as his empty servo was tapping on the table like he was playing a piano. They went back to silently doing their own activities before a knock came to the door. The two mechs called to attention, Jazz looked at Ironhide who put a digit to his lips. He nodded and then another knock, and Ironhide slowly rose to his peds with a blaster going into his servo.

The red mech went to the door and quickly pulled it open with the blaster pointed at whoever was at the door. He dropped his servo when saw who it was, and he quickly reacted. “Kid get some towels quick!”

Jazz jumped to his peds, going straight to the supply closet without seeing who was at the door. When he went to the front door, his hold on the towels was nonexistent. Leaning against the door frame was Prowl with burns scattered around his frame, steam rising from his armor, and he was venting hard. Ironhide groaned in agitation as he grabbed the towels, and started drying the insane mech.

“Prowl, what are you doing here? You could have damaged yourself.” Ironhide helped the Praxian into the living room. Prowl opened his subspace and pulled out a datapad.

“I promised no matter what. I-I didn't want to break my promise again.” Prowl was in a lot of pain, especially in his wings, but he would endure the pain if it meant keeping his promise to Jazz. The Polyhexian was standing behind Ironhide, still mildly in shock of seeing Prowl in front of him again. He wiped his optics quickly turning his back to hide the fact that he felt like a fool for making his warning so literal. “Why are you crying Jazz?”

“Because of you, you idiot. You know that I would have been understanding with the rain preventing you from delivering the letter.” Jazz looked back at Prowl with a fist to his optics. His shoulders were shaking as his tanks hitched. “And now you're hurt because of me.”

Ironhide took his chance to move to a different room. Prowl shook his helm as he rose to his peds. “I know you would have understood, but I wanted to show you that I will face any challenges to see you. I know you didn't want to see me, but Jazz I will fight for you. I want to spend the rest of my functioning with you in my life. Just please give me a chance to show you.”

 _He wants to fight for me?_ Jazz's servos lowered to his chest as his spark pulsed hard. Fresh tears fell before he hugged Prowl tightly. “I'm so sorry for everything, I should have trusted you to help me during the war. I'm sorry Prowler.”

Prowl hugged Jazz even tighter as he hid his face inside the crook of the Polyhexian's neck. “It's okay Jazz, I should have helped you faster. I won't abandon you again.”

That evening, Ironhide returned to the living room to see Jazz curled up on the couch with Prowl holding him tightly. The Polyhexian was fast in stasis with his servos curled between their frames. “He just went into stasis. I'm sorry for the unexpected visit, but I had to do it.”

“Well just know that Jazz is still fragile, so don't frag up.” Ironhide warned Prowl before gesturing at the recharging Polyhexian. “He still gets memory fluxes, so if he panics and hides it's not you.”

“How has his appointments with Bluestreak been going? My brother is very vague when I ask him.” Prowl held onto Jazz; he still couldn't believe that he was now holding the mech that was occupying more than eighty percent of his processor.

The red mech folded his arms and looked at the two. “He doesn't talk about them with me, just kinda tells me if it was a good day or bad day."

Jazz whimpered and started rubbing his legs together. “No. No. Hide.” He sat up quickly with his arms flailing around. The Polyhexian fell on the ground with his servos grabbing the side of his helm with small sounds of distress. “Bond safe. Safe.”

Prowl reached out for the mech slowly, but he stopped when remembered what Ironhide said about when he onlined from stasis. He gently reached out for the panicked mech and watched him flinch away from his touch. “Jazz, it's okay. You're safe now.”

“P-Prowler, they-they're so scared. Sh-Shockwave got in and saw… b-but I… so much energon. I-I promised I'd keep them safe.” Jazz gripped his helm tighter as he started crying more. He flinched more as his processor started sending out pain. Prowl pushed the table away from Jazz so he could move behind him. The Praxian knew that his processor was going to crash if he couldn't calm him down. Jazz tried to speak, but there was only static.

“Jazz, Jazz I need you to focus on me. You cannot allow yourself to crash now, if you do, we can't get you to Ratchet.” Prowl pulled him close to his frame and started playing the song in hopes to calm the mech. “Focus on me.”

The Polyhexian had streams of tears slide underneath his visors. He pushed himself into the frame and was hypersensitive to everything around him. Jazz rubbed at his wrists as his intakes were rising and falling hard. Ironhide left and came back with energon, Jazz tensed with every movement. “Kid, you're safe.”

“Halifax… Europe… I have to protect… fr-from Soundwave and Optimus. In danger.” Jazz's processor felt heavy from it coming back from a high risk of crashing. He whimpered as Ironhide handed him energon.

“From Optimus? Who do you have to protect from Optimus?” The enforcer asked with a frown. Jazz shook his helm with another whimper.

“Not ready. Need time…. Shut up stupid processor, shut up, shut up.” Jazz quickly stood up and rushed to his room, locking himself inside. He slid down the door with his helm going into his knees before he cried softly. _Blaster._

 _J, what's wrong?_ Blaster comforted the bond. He had felt the strain on the bond, and he had just finished checking on his symbionts so he could focus all of his attention on Jazz.

 _Prowl's here, and I panicked and now my processor won't shut up. I don't want to remember._ Jazz dug his digits in the back of his helm before screaming into his plating. His processor was holding onto the memory despite him trying to stop replaying it. _It hurts, it always hurts. I don't want to remember._

 _Ah know Jazz, but the only way yer processor will let go is tah remember and then let go. Do ya want meh tah view it with ya?_ Blaster didn't like seeing or feeling Jazz in pain, but he knew it was necessary until the spark transfer. Every session the Polyhexian had with Bluestreak, Blaster often blocked his creations from the backlash and the rollercoaster of emotions.

The visored mech whined and nodded with frown as he closed his optics. He felt the Host Carrier hold onto the bond as he started playing the memory.

_Jazz was barely in his teenage upgrades and Soundwave was very crossed with him. He had his visors turned off, he was stripped of his armor, gagged, and tied up. The Polyhexian was crying, pleading for Soundwave to forgive him but his master was not happy with him. He was struggling the entire time as he was thrown into a chest freezer with ice layering the bottom. “Your body belongs to me! Maybe some time in here will teach you to not seek pleasure elsewhere.”_

_Jazz was venting heavily as the sound of the lid being closed shut, and then something heavy sat on top to ensure Jazz couldn't get out. He started shivering as he thrashed around with muffled screams. The Polyhexian had lost count of how long he was in there, most of his protoform was frozen and his processor felt light from the lack of energon flowing. Only thing that reignited his spark was the sound of the item being removed and the lid opening up. His visors were activated again to reveal Soundwave looking down at him._

_“Have you learned your lesson pet?” He asked and Jazz nodded rapidly. Soundwave pulled him out and sat him on the ground, watching him unthaw._

The Polyhexian started crying more when the memory ended. Blaster kept hold of the bond, letting him milk the comfort and safety from it. Jazz took a few minutes to calm himself before pushing himself onto his peds. He exited his room, going to the living room with his helm turned to the side slightly. The Praxian went to speak, but Jazz put his servo in the air and reached for the left side of his chest plate.

“I told you once that I hate the cold, it's because I… I was trussed up and thrown in a… in a freezer for a whole night. Because I snuck out.” Jazz lowered the half of his chest plate that he unmagnetized. There on his protoform was a large discolored spot and in the center of it was a glyph. _Whore._ He replaced his armor, looking away with his arms wrapped around himself. “That's why I… I never wanted to deep clean around anyone.”

Prowl slowly walked over to the ashamed mech and wrapped his arms around him. He held onto the mech tightly with his field calm and collected for Jazz's sake. “He will not be able to hurt you Jazz. I will not allow any harm towards you. You're safe.” _I will end Soundwave, even if I have to go about it the illegal way._

“If you two start getting mushy again, I'm going to purge.” Ironhide warned and Jazz started laughing before shaking his helm, but continued to hugging the mech. The red mech went to his room to clean his arsenal. Jazz and Prowl sat down with awkwardness in their fields.

The Polyhexian looked at the mech beside him before looking away when he looked at him. “Can I read your letter?”

“Oh, I apologize we were so preoccupied that I forgot about it.” Prowl picked it up from the table and held it out for Jazz. He watched his reaction as he started reading it, hearing a small chuckle that changed into a look of concern. “I apologize if it's too much to ask, I figured that it would give us a chance to perhaps talk in private while in a public enough place where you felt comfortable.”

“What was the calculation?” Jazz looked at the Praxian.

Prowl was silent before answering confidently. “There was a seventy-nine percent chance that you would accept my request.”

Jazz shivered at hearing the numbers; during his heat cycle he would recall memories where Prowl would whisper numbers and percentages into his receptors. “I-I hope you can surprise my visors off. I'm sorry for holding off on meeting you even after the meta-cycle. I just… I wasn’t right in the helm, still not, but I think I can manage a mid-cycle without bawling my optics out.”

“I'm the one who should apologize. I shouldn't have left; I should have helped you.” Prowl sat forward and started fidgeting with his servos. _Should I do it now?_ “Jazz, I had gone and seen Soundwave. And he told me something… disturbing.”

Jazz felt his fear rising at what the monster could have possibly told Prowl. “What did he say?”

“Do you remember when we thought you were carrying, and then we all concluded that it was a false sparking when the sparkling wasn't there? Soundwave told me it was real; he took the sparkling to keep it safe until you betrayed the Autobots. He said it grew weak and died. He said that once I told you, you would return to him.” Prowl said before pulling out a very small box that had a glyph engraved on the lid. _Return to Primus_. “I wanted to give you a chance to see it and we, or you, could bury it.”

Jazz went silent and his servos grew shaky as he took the small box. He lifted the lid before he covered his mouth as he touched the cold spark. _I-It was real. H-He killed my sparkling._ The Polyhexian closed the box, setting it on the table before climbing in the Praxian's lap, and held onto him tightly. “I'm sorry Prowl, you were so excited to be a Sire. It's all my fault.”

“No, it's not, we all thought it was fake. We should have believed you when you were so sure it was real. Soundwave just wanted to control you.” He held onto Jazz before he went rigid and climbed out of his lap. The mech felt his field suddenly change and he pinged Ironhide when he watched Jazz pick up the box.

He touched the spark that was inside it before giving a small amused sound. Ironhide walked into the living room. “Kid, you okay?” Jazz looked up, showing off that his visors were dimmed. The councilor knew exactly what was happening. “Why are you visiting? Prowl's here, when do we get to know your lil' secret Jazz?”

Jazz chuckled some more before answering. “Ah ain't ready tah tell dat story. Prowler ain't ready for dah information dat Ah hide. Ah will reveal dah truth of Europe when before my spark transfer. Soundwave is going tah feel my wrath for takin' my first creation from meh. My servo straight through his spark chamber and he will experience only a taste of what Ah was put through before Ah crush his spark.”

“Jazz?” Prowl looked at Jazz with a frown. He slowly rose to his peds when Jazz slowly looked at him. “You're using your slang.”

“Ah'm a failsafe, ya will know when it's time Prowler. Just know dat Ah will give ya what ya want. Ah’m already gettin' better, Ah'm doin' all of dis for ya. Yer _my_ seventy percent. Ah work dah day after dah rains, come pick meh up for our lil' date, but ya can't tell meh about any of dis.” Jazz walked over to Prowl and kissed his cheek before he passed out again.

Prowl quickly caught him and sat down while the visored mech onlined with a groan. “What happened? Did I fall into stasis again?”

 _Doesn't he remember what just happened?_ Prowl looked at Ironhide, who shook his helm, and he knew he would need answers from him. He looked back down at the mech that was in his lap. “You did, would you like me to escort you back to your room?”

Jazz wrapped his arms around the white waist before hiding his face in the frame. “Bond is safe. I don't want to online from this dream. Safe.” He nuzzled the mech before actually going into stasis. Prowl had his servos hovering above the mech with confusion of what was going on.

Ironhide spoke once he knew Jazz was in deep enough stasis. “Jazz put a failsafe in his processor, which acts like how he did during the war, and Jazz doesn't know about any of it. As for this, kid always talks about the bond with Blaster when he's been startled. It helps him calm down.”

Prowl nodded in understanding as he looked back down at the grown mech. “What did this failsafe mean by tell us about Europe? On Earth it was where Shockwave was hiding a lab, and Jazz went to discover its location.”

“Telatraan said that the kid planted the intel before volunteering himself. Blaster found out that his spark signature was on Cybertron the exact same time whenever a mission from Europe came up.” Ironhide sat in one of the chairs before crossing his arms. “Something must've really scared the kid fragless to not trust Optimus.”

The Praxian looked down at the recharging mech and started comforting him. “If I recall something Optimus once said, ‘if you try to get him to talk on your terms it will only hurt him’.”

Jazz rolled onto his front and his engines revved softly. The two mechs knew exactly what he was doing, which Prowl was confused by. _It's a perfect temperature in here, why is he warming up?_ Jazz started mumbling in his stasis. “Warm Skids… Hatch'… boost… hide.”

“Well that's new. Usually it's Europe, Data, and hide.” Ironhide revealed to Prowl as Jazz continued to toss and turn. He was getting ready for the oncoming panic attack, but Prowl played the music quickly and the mech calmed back down. “Good thinking Prowl, we should let him get as much recharge as possible. He's gonna need it.”

“What do you mean?” Prowl asked the older mech with a confused flick of his wings. Ironhide gave a baffled look as if he was supposed to know.

“Didn't Smokescreen or Jazz tell you? Kid's gonna do a spark transfer, protoform and all. Tracks just finished making the frame yesterday according to Jazz. Being sent off to the twins for a paintjob.” Ironhide explained.

The Praxian looked down at Jazz with a frown. “I wasn't aware of this. Though that does explain why Smokescreen brought out his drawing pad. When will the procedure happen?”

“Um, I think Ratchet said something about equivalent to when it's December on Earth?” Ironhide shrugged. “Don't know why that time, but kid was adamant for it.”

 _December? That is a meta-cycle away. I'll only have a meta-cycle to be with Jazz before he forgets everything._ Prowl sighed and felt Jazz start stirring. The Polyhexian's visors powered on and he was staring up at Prowl. A tired smile graced his lips before he rolled over and snuggled closer. “You're so warm. Reminds me of the time we got stuck in a blizzard in Ohio on Earth. Mmm good times, always good times with you.”

“Jazz, we nearly died had we not shared body heat.” Prowl reminded him, remembering that day a lot differently.

“Shhh, it was a good day for me. No Soundwave, no Autobots, no war, just us. Like it should be.” Jazz said with tiredness in his voice. “My conjux.” He said happily before finally forcing himself to sit up.

 _He's acting really odd. Like he did during the war._ Ironhide thought to himself. During the war, the officers were first to see Jazz openly flirt around Prowl. It was always touching in public, his field overlapping only Prowl's, and trying to get Prowl to reciprocate the touches. _Blaster and Bluestreak both said that his symbiont systems were trying to latch onto Prowl as his Host._

“Conjux?” Prowl flicked his wings in confusion. Jazz nodded happily.

“It's a Tarn word for spark mate. Tarn dialect was the second language I learned growing up, it makes my voice sound even deeper than if I speak Kaonion.” Jazz looked at the table where the cube was at, and then looked at Prowl. “Do you want energon?”

Prowl recognized this Jazz and he wanted him to stop before he hurt himself. “Jazz, you don't have to pretend. I'm not mad at you, please be honest with me.” When he told Jazz to stop the charade, Jazz's field faltered, and his shoulders dropped before he looked down.

“How is it I can fool everyone else but you?” Jazz whispered softly, squeezing his servos tightly in his lap with large drops fell onto the backs of them.

“Because I know you, Jazz. We're all going at your pace.” Prowl answered and kept a polite amount of space between them. The Polyhexian stood and went to his room with himself planted in a corner.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz and Prowl finally go on a date, Prowl doesn't like the staring. Jazz is forced to be hospitalized.

Ch. 20

The storm had finally ended, and Jazz was answering call after call, email after email on the damages done by the rain. Optimus was dealing with his own workload, neither had gone to take a lunch and both were secretly try to hide their tanks rumbling behind shifting in their chairs. A knock on the door caught both of their attention before revealing Vera with a single cube and then stepped further in the room with a smile on her face.

“Optimus this is for you, Jazz your guest is here.”

Jazz looked at her in confusion, “my guest?” Prowl stepped into the room and he stood up a little too quickly, hitting his knee on the bottom of the desk. “P-Prowl!? Wha- ahem… What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Praxus?”

“I have finished my workload for the time being. I figured you would like to go out and have some energon with me?” Prowl offered before smiling subtly. Jazz looked at the large pile of work he still had to do. He was about to deny the offer, but Optimus intervened.

“Go ahead Jazz, it'll still be here when you get back. We both know you'll just go stir crazy. Have fun.” He accepted the cube from Vera and started drinking it.

Jazz stood up and went over to Prowl with uncertainty. _Prowl said public, he isn't going to hurt me._ The Polyhexian licked his lips before taking the white servo quickly. Prowl was pleasantly surprised by the action but escorted him outside. “Where are we going?”

“There's this café that is close by that I've been told was good at flavoring energon. You look like you have been working a lot and your tanks have been making sounds since we left.” Prowl pointed out as they continued walking down the sidewalk to their destination. “Have you been?”

“I don't… really go out without Hide or Blaster with me. If you haven't notice I'm not exactly well liked in society.” He didn't look Prowl in the optics once as he spoke.

“Speaking of Ironhide, he told me you were going through with a spark transfer?” Prowl chose his words wisely, wanting Jazz to get the hint that he could answer his way.

The Polyhexian nodded and hugged his waist as they arrived at a small building that had a patio with a small sitting area as well as more on the inside. It was mainly a bright yellow paired with whites and light pinks. Prowl a chair out for Jazz to sit, and the visored mech stiffly sat down. _Right, never been on an actual date._ “I am, I want all of the brands and physical scars gone. Smokescreen helped me sketch out the design of my new frame, Tracks just finished making the pieces, and Sunny confirmed the colors and everything with me yesterday. He should be getting the parts soon.”

“Can I ask to see it?” Prowl asked before a waiter came over and dropped off the menus. He sat small glasses of normal grade on the table before leaving them to decide.

Jazz took a few sips of the energon to get his tanks to shut up, and then answered. “Not until it's done. It's got some… quirks that I think you'll like. I know the procedure is risky and there's a chance of me forgetting a lot, if not all of it, but it's something I want.”

“You bribed Smokescreen to keep silent, haven't you? He always likes showing off his sketches when he gets a chance.” Prowl inquired and the visored mech smirked.

“I promised him I'd play a ballad for him if kept his trap shut.” Jazz laughed and Prowl smiled softly at hearing his small laugh. “Well I think I know what I want. I'll have to come up with something better to repay you.”

“You don't have to Jazz, spoiling you is something I still enjoy.” Prowl said before their waiter returned and took their orders.

The rest of their mid-cycle date was full of playful bantering and catching up since Jazz's release. There were some tears from Jazz, but it was always replaced with a laugh when Prowl spoke of some of the funnier non-emergencies he got called to deal with. When Prowl dropped Jazz back at the Council tower, Jazz's field was bouncy and happy, and a genuine smile was on his face.

“Thank you for today Prowl, it was nice. Felt very…-"

“Normal?” Prowl finished for the shorter mech, getting a chuckle from him.

“Yes, normal. Maybe we could do this again sometime?” Jazz hinted with his field changing into a subtle curiosity. Prowl nodded with his wings moving forward and back a couple times. “I should head back inside; I have a lot of desk work to do.”

Prowl chuckled at the dread behind the words. “I believe you will survive. Have a good rest of your day Jazz.”

“You too.” Jazz said before heading inside with a smile still on his face. When he walked back into the office, the mech sat down with a soft sigh and was pushing his stylus around with the side of his helm rest in his servo. _He still so amazing._

“Must have been a good lunch then?” Optimus teased the mech that was still swooning at his desk. Jazz shook his helm to clear the happy haze from his processor. His face heated up slightly in embarrassment.

“Something like that. He just-" Jazz sighed happily with his arms stretched out on the surface in front of him. “So amazing.”

The Prime continued snickering and laughing at his friend while focusing on his work. “Well can you swoon and work? We have a lot to do.”

Jazz sat up quickly and logged into his terminal with a smile. “Right, serious Jazz mode.” Cycles passed and Jazz sat the last datapad in the finished pile as he clicked the send button on an email. He collapsed in his chair with a heavy groan. “I think I've done enough work to last me a lifetime.”

“I agree with you, and don't worry the next bad wave won't be until the next storm.” Optimus stood up from his desk and sat on the corner of it with his arms crossed in a nonthreatening manner. “Jazz, can I ask you something?”

“Hm?” Jazz stretched with his back arched. “Shoot.”

“What was going on through your processor when you commed me into my office on the ARK?” The Prime wondered that for a long time and felt the mech in question was in an okay of a mindset to ask.

The Polyhexian sat up straight, turning to face the larger mech, and sighed softly. “I was terrified, afraid that my plan wouldn't work, and Soundwave would find out and kill everyone to put me in my place. I knew I was going to be in trouble, that I wasn't afraid of, but it was the reaction I got. When I killed Megatron, I knew that it was a big enough blow to cause the Cons to stir and revolt just long enough for me to confess everything. There… There's more, but I don't know exactly what it is. All I know was that I was afraid of you, which is a silly fear I know, but whatever I locked away in my memory banks it was serious. I was afraid of your response and feared Soundwave would use it against me.”

“Jazz, you know I would never physically hurt you or anything Soundwave had done.” Optimus kept calm and Jazz nodded in agreement. He leaned forward and he looked up quickly. “I want to show you something. I'll hardline to my terminal and you can see it.”

The Polyhexian hooked up to his terminal and fell into stasis with Optimus standing behind him. Jazz was standing in an abandoned hospital, the lights occasionally flickered and water dripped from the ceiling, and he was tense about something.

_Shockwave stepped out of the shadows and was genuinely surprised to see the Polyhexian in the building with a pipe in his servo. “Jazz, Soundwave did not order you to Cybertron. What are you doing here?”_

_“I'm here because I want to Shockwave. Leave or I'll rip your optic out of your ugly mug!” Jazz's engines roared, all he was doing was defending his territory, wanting to protect what was behind him._

_“It would seem being with those Autobots have scrambled your compliance chip. We'll just have to correct that, now won't we?” Shockwave stalked closer and Jazz took a wide swing at the mech, but he caught it and violently jerked the Polyhexian closer._

_“I am a free mech Shockwave. I will never go back to being a slave!” He brought his legs up and kicked the purple mech away. The Polyhexian back flipped away from the mech's reach. “I will see to it that my new mission is carried out until I deactivate!”_

_The cyclops mockingly laughed, “and what is this new mission little pet?”_

_“Ending this war alongside my new family.” Jazz pulled his blaster from his side and shot at the mech, striking him in several areas._

_Shockwave went to say something, but something over Jazz's shoulders caught his optic. “Well hello, this would certainly explain your attitude. Defending your home, I see, just wait until Soundwave finds out.”_

_Something in Jazz clicked and he shouted in anger before tackling Shockwave to the ground. He started ripping his voice box out, ripping major fuel lines, and then ended with punching his graying form repeatedly in the face. Jazz started pulling out of his berserk haze and slowly stood up with heavy vents._

_“I'm okay, we're okay. We're safe. Data take Shockwave to his space bridge.” Jazz ordered before turning and looked at his energon stained arms._

Jazz pulled out just before he looked up. He was shaking from the emotions, and he looked at his servos as if they were still stained. Optimus looked down at Jazz in astonishment, unable to form words. “I was being honest when I said that I was helping the Autobots when Blacklight deactivated. The Autobots were the only actual family I had, around you all I felt normal, and finally had an answer to my Sire’s question. I _finally_ had something to fight for and it's locked away in here.” He pointed to the center of his helm.

He stood up and looked up at Optimus with a servo going to his waist. Optimus rested his larger servo on Jazz's shoulder with gratitude in his field. “There's the Jazz I know. Thank you for entrusting me with this.”

Jazz heated up and then waved him off with an embarrassed chuckle. “Well I guess actually talking about things made me realize that trust goes both ways. And thank you for being patient with me.”

Jazz walked into the house just one klik before curfew and he noticed that it was oddly quiet, which was weird. He flipped the lights on in the living room before shouting and backed away with his servo covering his optics. Ironhide shouted and flipped onto his peds while Chromia sat up with her servos going over her chest plate. “Primus Ironhide! You have a room for a reason!”

“I thought you were still working, Primus Jazz!” He turned his body and forced his spike back into his housing.

“If you haven't checked your chronometer, it's almost nine. Hi Chromia.” Jazz quickly went to his room with his plating shivering with disgust. _Ew I am never going to get that out of my memory banks._ The Polyhexian took a quick shower before sitting in his usual spot at the windowsill. He started humming softly as he pretend to be playing piano keys on his knee. He started humming softly as his optics closed.

Ironhide and Chromia were cleaning up their evidence in the living when they saw Jazz walk into the kitchen. They went to apologize for what happened a cycle ago, but they saw Jazz sitting on the ground and was pouring energon on the floor before covering his arms with it.

“Jazz, what are you doing!?” Ironhide took the cube away from the mech, seeing how limp he was. “What are you doing?”

“Fear of betrayal. Protect my family. Gonna make dah bastard pay with his life. Hope yer security has gotten better since dah twins.” Jazz growled with a dangerous grin before he collapsed into the puddle of energon. Jazz onlined to a bright light shining in his visors and he groaned as he smacked at it.

“What was the last thing you remember Jazz?” The still onlining mech recognized First Aid's voice. _When did I get to the hospital?_

He looked around in confusion before answering. “Was at home humming to myself, I felt tired and went into stasis. Why am I at the hospital?”

“You collapsed in the kitchen.” Ratchet walked over with a data pad in his servos. He started scrolling through the notes before looking over at the confused Polyhexian. “Ironhide said you went into the kitchen, poured energon all over the floor, and then threatened to kill someone before collapsing. Ring any bells?”

Jazz sat up and scratched the top of his helm, “nope. I mean only mech I want dead is gonna rust in Newgate.”

“Hmm, okay. Any errors popping up?” The medic asked as he scanned him. The mech shook his helm with a groan and grabbed his leg, which immediately caught Ratchet and First Aid's attention. “What's wrong?”

The mech shook his helm with an anxious chuckle. “Nothing Hatch' I just recharged funny.” He tried to hide the pain before Ratchet gave an agitated sigh and pulled the blanket off of his lower half to get a good look. Ratchet turned away and grabbed tweezers, turning back over and pulled a piece of broken glass. “Guess there was something wrong, huh.”

“When did you become so witty? Sunny give you some of his charms?” Jazz teased while First Aid repaired the tear. “So, from the way I'm bein coddled I'm not going back?”

The two medics looked at each other and then at the Polyhexian. “No Jazz, you aren't. Optimus wishes for you to stay for observation for the lunar cycle. I know it's not something you would enjoy in the slightest, but we need to figure out what is causing these black outs.”

Jazz frowned with a small whine, “it's nothing _really_ my mechs! I don’t wanna be takin’ up your time.” He started waving his servos in front of him with his field pulsing how he felt about this plan.

“I know Jazz, but this has to be done. Just for the night and then you can go back, promise.” Ratchet reassured and Jazz gave a shaky ex-vent with a nod. “Even took the liberty of sound proofing your room because I know you’ll start some sort of party.”

The Polyhexian smiled slightly at the joke before sitting back on the medical berth. “Okay, I’ll try not attract a wrench to the helm. Just remember that I _may_ cause some mischief if I get too bored.” He got a stern digit pointed at him before being told that energon was going to be dropped off in a couple groons. _Are they going to have you scan my processor?_

 _Naw, Prime has dah minis and Ah stationed in Tyger Pax for a few solar cycles._ Blaster told the mech through the bond. Jazz nodded and sat up, looking around the room until he saw small lights occasionally light up in all four corners. Jazz tried to take it personal. He knew that it was precaution and for everyone’s safety. The mech stood up and started walking around the room in boredom, he looked out the window and he felt something spark up inside him. He looked to the sides of the room before going to the medical berth, placing a servo on top of it with his digits curling slightly.

“ _Master Jazz, we will need to acquire more powerful boosters for the twins. Because of the lack of spark energy, it has resulted in their anti-virus systems to-” The drone from Jazz’s previous memories, Data, looked up from the medical berth with two weak looking shadows laying on the large berth._

_“I know Data, I know frag. Okay, I’ll try to get something from Ratchet. He’s gotta have something for the Cassetticons. Get me a list and I’ll get what I can. Are the boosters you have now good enough until then?” Jazz held onto one of the small servos of the blue optic sparkling. The two shadows started coughing and huddled closer to each other with the thermal blankets covering them. “And stop calling me Master.”_

_Data bowed his helm politely, “I apologize Jazz it is a part of the glitch I retained. The boosters I was programmed with can keep them functioning at seventy percent, but they are designed for soldiers and per my previous function. There is also an old youth section in the opposite wing of this hospital, but-”_

Jazz nodded in understanding the problem with that. “But it’s been blown up during the war. Right.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz's spark goes pitter patter. The Council, now aware who the twins are, still need to solve their connection to their friend.

Ch. 21

“Everyone here?” Ratchet asked as he looked around the councilor table, they all nodded, and they played the security footage of the previous lunar cycle. They skipped the part of Ratchet explaining everything to Jazz and then them leaving him alone. They all sat silently of Jazz’s the first memory file returning to him, and then he was fine for a while until one of the nurses dropped off his energon for him. The medic paused it when Jazz took the cube over to the berth and started ripping the blanket into a smaller section. “Where does he think he’s going? If he was going to stash energon, why not subspace it?”

“The real question is why didn’t he just consume it? We all know he’s past thinking it’s been spiked.” Hot Rod said before looking at the mech that was beside him. “What do you think shrink?”

Bluestreak’s wings went rigid at being called a shrink, but he composed himself professionally. “Telatraan pull up all security footage of Jazz stashing energon.” There was a moment before over a million clips played of Jazz looking around before storing a cube or two in his subspace, but it didn’t stop there. He was taking things from the medbay, Wheeljack’s scrapped projects, and random items from the storage units down below. “This all started in March for nearly seven and half Earth years! How did he get past Red Alert? Telatraan why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Autobot Jazz, wished for me to only respond to any questions regarding to his strange actions as ‘Operation Europe’.” Telatraan said bluntly.

Optimus rubbed his chin in thought before continuing the footage from the hospital. Jazz finished tying the energon cube up and opened up the window before looking behind him. He looked almost hesitant to leave, after moments of contemplating, he sat the cube on the ledge just below the window. The visored mech shook his helm and scratched his helm with obvious confusion. The Prime paused the footage again, “Bluestreak, can you get an indication on what triggers these blackouts? Or why the failsafe hasn’t restored Jazz’s memories like it said it would?”

“I’m not an expert on this, but it gives me split personality vibes. The Jazz we are seeing, the more… submissive and nervous Jazz is the dominant personality and the failsafe is a personality that he created to protect himself from remembering or facing anything that makes him feel unsafe. And yes, we are working on that, but it will take a while.” Bluestreak said with a few gestures and then they watched it a few more kliks.

_The visored mech went to the door and locked it before putting the curtain in front of the door. He went to the window again and activated his sound system, but nothing came from it. Jazz stepped back as figures jumped through the window. Skids and Ricochet were quick to hug Jazz. They paused it again and Ironhide requested audio from Telatraan._

_“It's been almost a deca-cycle, I have a ship ready and a destination picked.” Ricochet said after pulling away from Jazz. He rubbed his helm with a slight groan. “Yes, yes I can hear you. You don't need to project so loudly. No, I refuse to go to Blaster! He disowned his own brother.”_

_Skids held a digit up and went to speak, but Ricochet and Jazz started arguing mentally. He sighed with a shake of his helm. “Rico, we only want what's best for you. Just give him a chance, he's family too.”_

_“Oh, like you gave your Sire a chance? You refuse to go back to Praxus after the slagging Council came to Kaon. We both know they'll throw Vos and Tarn in Newgate with all of the Cons.” Ricochet crossed his arms and glared with a scowl on his face. His helm whipped in Jazz's direction, “you're hiding something. You don't block me from your thoughts. No, nuh uh don't distract me with… ew okay, okay I don't want to see that.”_

_“Ah taught ya better manners than dat Ricochet. Do it again and Ah will use yer full name. Failsafe is fadin' and we'll finally be together again soon. Remember what Ah said?” Jazz finally verbally spoke._

_The twins both nodded with Skids’s wings dipping down. “You may not remember us. But that's why you have us, we've been storing your memories in Data. We need you; I can't lose both of my creators.” The Praxian sat on the medical berth with his shoulder sagged._

_Jazz hugged the Praxian with a purr. “Ya won't lil' star. My lil' ‘Dosia. Yer battle computer, it's workin' correctly yes?”_

_“Mhm, all of the proper functions and everything.” Skids looked up at the visored Polyhexian before looking at him as if getting a feel of why he wanted to know. He tapped his chin before flicking his wings in determination. “It'll take a couple solar cycles, but I gotcha covered.”_

Bluestreak paused it and zoomed in on Skids, noting every movement of his wings. “Something isn't right with him. The way he started getting worried about his creators, his wings stiffened. The colors, the pattern, it looks so familiar. Ratchet, are you sure Jazz didn't get sparked at all since the first one?”

“Impossible, he couldn't hide his carrying once it dropped into his gestational chamber. And we made sure his heat cycle was closely monitored, I would have been notified the second he went into his cycle.” Ratchet immediately shot down what the Praxian was insinuating. Bluestreak decided to continue the footage.

Jazz pressed his forehelm against the younger mechs’ before laying on the berth and dropped into stasis. Skids and Ricochet looked at each other before Skids pulled out a disc from his waist. “I don’t want to leave him here; can’t we just hide him in Tarn?” The Polyhexian complained as his brother threw the disc at the ground and a portal expanded seemingly out of thin air.

“No, we are not _botnapping_ him! Can we just go home?” Skids jumped through the portal, leaving Ricochet alone in the room. The Polyhexian placed the full-face visor over his face. He went over to Jazz and touched his helm with a heavy sigh.

“I’ll make sure the bastard never sees the light of day again. He _will_ pay for what he’s done.” The mech whispered softly before jumping through the portal just moments before Jazz sat up with a small shout. He grabbed a trash can that was near the berth and purged in it before laying back with a groan.

Blaster wasn’t physically at the meeting, but he was there via terminal comm call. “Dis mech is feelin’ personal about dis, which means he’s even more of a danger tah himself. There are only two mechs dat Ah can think of dat could possibly stir up dis kind of reaction. Prowl and Soundwave.”

“But Prowl is making things work with Jazz, he shouldn’t be even a target.” Bluestreak’s wings rose in the air as he got genuinely angry.

“Bluestreak, between your brother and Soundwave. I think Prowl is safe. If Ricochet wants Jazz to be how he was during the war, then why does he want to take him away?” Ironhide asked with confusion.

Ultra Magnus had asked Telatraan for any recent news on either of the mechs. And Primus had probably felt nice as there was something being recorded at the moment of their conference. It was out in the open with the Kaon, Vos, Tarn, and Tyger Pax leaders all sitting in a large balcony that overlooked the Lords of their cities. Ricochet was on his platform that was hovering a good five feet in the air.

_“As a Lord of Kaon, I demand we do an entire city scrub! We want to be equals to the Iaconians, have a chair in their government but that means being willing to give up the ones that put us in this rut. At this rate we are going to find ourselves in another war! If none of you cannot see that your people are wanting to expand and prosper as our brothers and sisters in the other cities, then I demand for a new leadership!” Ricochet said confidently with gestures. He stared down the Kaon leader and pointing to him. “Starting with you King Cog. We are in a new era, there is no room for royalty!”_

_A large Kaonion, with most of his armor made up of gears that moved with every movement, stood with his fist pounding the podium in front of him. “Lord Ricochet, you dare speak against me!? If we have to go to war to see that we are seen as equals, then so be it!”_

_The others all murmured in agreement, but Ricochet wasn't going to give up. “I speak out as a loyal citizen of Kaon; I care about the future of my city. If you think that a war is the right path to go down, then my previous statement of your removal remains! Megatron and his loyalists went down the same exact path and look where that got them. If you don't do drastic changes, then I'm pulling all my funding from everything. And you know I'm from old money, no matter who you try to replace me will get you the same amount of credits that my support gives.”_

_“Are you sure you want to go down this path Lord Ricochet?” The Tarn leader was a Minicon femme that looked almost like a youngling, but everyone knew not to mess with her._

_“Almost eighty percent of your support and income comes from me. So yes, Madam Grindstone, I am very serious. And I am not the only Lord that wants a change.” Ricochet said confidently before he was joined by three trines of Seekers, several Predacons, a couple Kaonions, and a single Tarn Native. The leaders of the cities all looked at the Lords and Mistresses that stared at them defiantly._

_The Seeker leader looked at the trines with his wings flared. “You would go against your own kind, against the treaty we made to the Kaonions for this mech?”_

_The leaders of each trine looked at each other and then nodded. The Seeker that had been on stage with Skids when Optimus met with the rebellion, moved his platform in front of his friends. “As the eldest of not only my trine, but also your lords, I want nothing more than to be recognized as a mech with his own ideas and dreams. Not what the disgraces those that followed Megatron brought onto us. My eldest son of my own clutch is actually forming a trine with a grounder, and I fully support them. Times are changing Monarch; we need to move forward not backwards.”_

_The Seeker leader and Tyger Pax leader looked at each other, whispering to each other quietly before looking at the group of Lords. “President Platinum and the monarch trine will… Pull from slave drive if you can get council from the Iaconian Council. We will pick the speaker and inform you of our decision.”_

The mech turned it off before looking at the Prime with an unreadable face. “They’re _actually_ wanting live alongside us? And Ricochet, he has that same determination that Megatron had before he went psychotic, how can we trust he won’t be the next Megatron?” Ultra Magnus voiced his concern and a few of the others agreed with the larger mech.

Optimus thought long and hard, occasionally asking for his mate’s opinion through their bond. After he came to his decision, the Prime rose to his peds. “We went to his territory, it’s time he comes into ours. Blaster, you and Mirage get a party together.”

“Got it Prime.” Blaster was already a giggling fool when he heard his name and the word party in the same sentence. They got down to getting all of the smaller details together during the rest of the meeting. Blaster was put on music detail to get a full view of the entire scene. Optimus was going to have Jazz with him and keep him on the move while the others would try to capture the twins. Ironhide was going to keep it all hush-hush with the Polyhexian until they got them both. Once they were in their custody, they would finally have the answers to their questions.

Back at the house, Jazz was hanging out with Smokescreen and his future mate which didn't bother him at all. The Polyhexian was humming a song as he flipped through different recipes. Sunray had asked Jazz for some really good recipes of flavored energon because she wanted to impress her future brothers.

“You have a very beautiful voice Jazz.” Sunray complimented when the mech finally pulled up a file. Smokescreen was sitting on the counter watching the two, not out of possessiveness for his mate, but rather secondhand learning. He was excited to see Jazz in his new frame, especially with all the new add-ons on it. “So how long do you plan on staying here?”

Jazz looked at the femme with a smile, “not sure to be honest. Ratchet said that with the spark transfer it would take some time to adjust and relearn things. Wanna learn how to make them?”

Sunray's wings flared as her optics sparkled in excitement. “Really?” The visored mech nodded as he started gathering the items they would need. The femme helped him with grabbing the things as they continued the conversation. “Have you been to the racetracks in Praxus?”

“No, I haven’t really gone to any of the other cities besides Helix that one time.” Jazz chuckled nervously as he grabbed a few of the trays and got down to explaining what to do. He was enjoying this, it made him feel happy and it felt that a memory block was being removed. He looked at the stove top quietly before shaking his helm and looked at the two Praxians. “I’ll be right back.”

He quickly left the room to go into his room and calm his processor. The Polyhexian sat on the floor with his helm resting in his servos. He closed his optics with his digits curling tightly.

_“Whatcha making?” A blue Praxian youngling peeked over the counter that Jazz was preparing energon treats with. His tiny winglets moved curiously as he watched the Polyhexian cut the cubes into bite size pieces._

_“Energon gels. Where's your brother at Skids?” Jazz asked with a smile as he picked up one of the cubes and gave it to Skids._

_The youngling squealed excitedly and took it with his winglets flapping with even more excitement. “With Data. Do you think Optimus will like us?”_

_The Polyhexian had stopped cutting at the question. He looked down with a small frown; he didn't know how his commander would feel about the younglings he had hiding on Cybertron. Jazz sat the knife down and knelt in front of the young mech, taking one of his servos. “Skids, I'm going to be honest with you, I don't know. He wouldn't hurt either of you, but I did a very bad thing and he may think that I'm teaching you both to do the same thing. Until I'm better, I want you to promise me to stay away from the Autobots.”_

_“But I thought you said Rico and I could be Autobots when we were bigger?” Skids frowned in confusion as he looked into his caretaker's visors. Jazz sighed heavily as he bowed his helm. The Praxian sensed the mech's distress, and he hugged him tightly around the neck. “I promise to stay away. Please don't be sad.”_

Jazz shot his helm up with a loud gasp. He scrambled to his peds and started tapping his comlink rapidly. “Come on, come on pick up. Pick up dammit.”

::Primus Jazz, what is it?:: Mirage had been in the middle of preparing for the trap to get the mechs that had been stalking his friend when his comlink was spammed with comm calls from the Polyhexian.

::Skids! I remember him! I need to talk to him!:: Jazz was pacing in the middle of his room. He knew Mirage could get this done, and he trusted his old team with this more than anyone else.

The noble was shocked to hear Jazz mention Skids but played it off coolly. ::Can I asked what caused you to remember?:: He was within listening range of Blaster as they got his party room ready for the event.

::I was hanging out with Smokey and his mate, and I felt a wall breaking. And I was there with Skids when he was a youngling! He knows about the Autobots. I know why I wanted to hide my memory from Optimus, I was afraid of what he'd do to him and his brother. I thought he would think I was teaching them the things Soundwave taught me.::

::Ops and I will try to get in contact with him then. I have to go Jazz; Blaster and I are discussing business.:: Mirage needed to cut the conversation short and return to the preparations.

Jazz chuckled slightly. ::Aight, tell Blaster I said hi.:: He disconnected from the comlink and returned to the two bots that were waiting in the kitchen. “Sorry about that ready to start baking?”

It had been some time, Jazz and Prowl had been steadily seeing each other whenever they could. The Polyhexian had decided to surprise the Praxian by visiting him at the station. He was feeling extremely nervous as it was the first time that he had been in Praxus, and he wanted to do this on his own without Blaster in his helm.

 _You can do this Jazz, just a few more steps and you'll be inside._ He tried to reassure himself as he walked up the steps of the enforcer station. The Polyhexian looked around nervously before seeing the receptionist looking at him. He took a deep intake and walked up to her. “Hi, is Prowl here?”

“Commander Prowl? I believe he's in his office, can I have a name?” She didn't look like she was going to let Jazz just waltz into the back, so he continued to cooperate with her.

“Um… Jazz.” The visored mech saw the sudden change in her posture, and he knew he wasn't about to be let access to Prowl. She turned her back to him and started typing away on her terminal. Jazz just shook his helm and crossed his arms. _I'm not going to get hurt, I'm okay. What would you do as an Autobot? Stand up for yourself._ He remained at the reception desk with his peds planted and arms crossed. “Miss, I ain't gonna move until ya tell Prowl that I'm here. If ya don't I'll inform not only his brother, who works with the Council, but also Optimus Prime himself that you a preventing me from completing a job that the Prime has assigned me too.”

The femme glared over her shoulder with her wings flared. “The Commander is in the middle of an important case. Leave or you'll be forced off the property.” She sharply turned back to the screen.

Jazz smirked and tapped his comlink, getting an instant answer. ::Jazz, what an unexpected call. Are you okay? I thought we were going to talk later tonight?:: Prowl's voice was heard by the femme, and her wings flared even more as she turned to stare at the proud Polyhexian.

::Hey Prowler, could ya come to the front of the station? I got ya a surprise.:: He continued to smile, feeling his spark of playfulness flare up.

There was a moment of silence before a small sigh. ::Jazz, you know I hate surprises. Wait… come up?::

::Oh, hush and come up here.:: He snickered and hung up.

The femme looked so baffled that Jazz had done that and was even more stunned when Prowl walked out from the hall with his wings held up high and a very small smile on his lips. “Jazz, you're really here in Praxus. I didn't think that you would be caught dead here. Envoy, why didn't you inform me?”

“Oh, I told her to let me surprise you Prowl. And no, I wouldn't be caught dead in Kaon. Are you busy?” Jazz smiled sweetly with his arms going behind his back. He watched how Prowl looked focus for a moment before giving him his full attention once again.

“I have no meetings to see to until tomorrow. And I've completed today's work for now.” Prowl said and Jazz took that as a no. The Praxian looked at Envoy with a cold expression. “Envoy, please take any messages for me until I return.”

“Yes Commander.” She answered meekly before turning to her work.

The Praxian took the Polyhexian's servo, leading him outside. “Was there any place you would like to see?” He looked at the mech beside him, feeling extremely happy to have Jazz in his reach once again. Prowl could tell that Jazz was holding onto him for comfort, which he didn't complain but he didn't want him to be scared. “Jazz, it's okay. You're safe with me.”

“I know, I know it's just my paranoia getting to me. This took a lot of inner strength to get here. Any good places that are good to see first?” Jazz looked back at the mech with a sheepish smile. “I… well Blue and I were talking at our last session, and I want to try looking at memories with you there. If you want.”

Prowl looked at the mech in surprise at the offer. “You would allow me to view your session? I would be honored Jazz.” He bowed his helm slightly with his wings dipping down.

Jazz smiled as he relaxed some. “I really would Prowler. I'll let Blue know when I head back to Iacon.” The Polyhexian looked around when he saw that Prowl led them to a large park. There were low raised fences lining the path with crystal formations filling what was fenced off. He gasped in excitement at the sight of it all, his field flaring up with just as much excitement. “Wow.”

“Guessing I chose an appropriate place to show you first? These are the crystal gardens, the reason for the fences is because believe it or not some bots think that these make great souvenirs. But the botanists are the only ones that can touch these.” Prowl explained as he guided Jazz through the first section. _He looks so adorable from seeing just crystals._

The visored mech looked at a large purple formation that had silver running through it. “Wow, it's so pretty. Now I get why Smokey said why these were a Praxian's pride and joy.”

“I take it my brother had talked your receptor off?” Prowl dryly joked as he led them further into the gardens. Jazz nodded with a laugh, his field flickering in amusement. _Still a beautiful laugh._

“I don’t mind it, it's better than hearing Hide talk about guns. Seriously the mech would spark merge with his entire arsenal if he could.” Jazz teased the absent mech, getting a stifled chuckle from Prowl. _I've missed your laugh so much._ He continued to swoon over the mech as they came to a very small opening in the garden, and Prowl offered a spot on a bench that faced the array of crystals. The two sat down and the Praxian looked at him with a polite space between them.

“I was going to copy memories of the light festival for you, but I thought you would prefer to see them in person. The only downside is that won't be until after your spark transfer.” Prowl explained with his wings dipped down. Jazz nodded in understanding before moving slightly closer to the other, their digits barely touching.

The Praxian took the contact as the ‘I'm good with this space' sign. Jazz looked at his peds as they lightly kicked the ground. “I guess I'll have to wait then. Prowl, I know it's not the most ideal thing for us, but if I ever got to the point where I was okay with interfacing, I… I don't want you to see _everything_.”

Prowl curled his digits around Jazz's, getting him to look into his optics. “You do not have to explain yourself Jazz, it's understandable why you feel the need to do a transfer. Even though it means there is a risk you may never remember me, I support you fully.”

Jazz's face heated up and he quickly looked down with a smile. Prowl would do anything to see his lover smile, even if it meant a spark transfer. The Polyhexian gave a stressed chuckle before speaking his mind. “I guess that just means we have to do a lot of things before I forget.”

Prowl mirrored his companion and gave a small chuckle with his wings flicking in agreement. “I suppose it does. Well my tanks are at thirty-two percent; would you be opposed to getting energon with me?”

“You still make numbers sound so exciting, but no I'm not _opposed_ to getting energon with you.” Jazz smiled with a very slight tilt of his helm. After a few more minutes in the garden, Prowl led the Polyhexian to a diner that was close to the station. The Praxian made sure that Jazz felt safe while they were escorted to a table, more so when the mech started closing off his field.

Once the waitress was gone, Prowl looked across the table to see Jazz shifting around nervously. He quickly took action and grabbed his servos which snapped the Polyhexian to attention. “Jazz, deep intakes. You are okay."

Jazz nodded and bowed his helm slightly as he took several deep intakes. He let his shoulders fall as he sat up straighter. “Sorry, I'm just nervous at embarrassing you.”

“Don't be, many of the citizens see me no more than a drone at most for enforcing the law. What sort of energon do you feel like having?” The enforcer asked as they looked over the menu.

Jazz occasionally glanced up and finally noticed the lack of Autobot insignia on his frame. He sat the menu down with a tilt of his helm. “How come you do not have the insignia on you?”

The Praxian looked at the area where his insignia once was before looking back up at the across from him. “I made a choice once the war was over. Remain on Cybertron and return to my old life as an enforcer or join the secondary team that will be led by Hot Rod once he becomes a Prime. I chose the former. Do you ever think about asking Optimus at rejoining the brigade?”

Jazz quickly shot that question with his servos waving in front of himself. “Like I told Hound, sure I miss being a Bot and being a part of Ops, I would never rejoin. It would bring up too many memories and emotions, that I just don't want to deal with.”

“Which is understandable that you wish to avoid any more negative memories. Surely Optimus would give you an opportunity to put your special forces training to good use?” Prowl suggested with his wings twitching slightly.

The waiter eventually returned and took their orders. Another waiter was taking an older couple to a vacant table, and the femme was giving Jazz's helm the death glare. The Polyhexian's training was spiking, and he slid down the chair with a frown. Prowl looked over the mech's shoulder and held his wings up high. He stood up and went over to Jazz, which confused the mech. “Switch me spots.” The enforcer said, and the visored mech quickly complied. Once they changed spots, Prowl flared his wings to shield Jazz from her view.

Jazz looked down at his lap with his digits fidgeting with his wrists. _Why did I think Praxus was a good idea?_ He gave a heavy sigh with his shoulders hanging low. The only thing that pulled him out of his thoughts was him being pulled closer to the table. He felt Prowl’s legs wrap around his legs the best they could. Their optics locked and Jazz saw the encouraging smile on Prowl's face.

After their meal, Prowl paid for their energon and Jazz slipped the waiter a tip and asked him to thank whoever made his energon. The Polyhexian thought it was a pure coincidence that the mixer knew the exact recipe that Jazz loved, but he didn’t pay any mind as all his attention was now refocused on Prowl. He had his arms wrapped around the white arm with a very small purr, that Jazz had hoped that Prowl didn’t hear but if he did, the Praxian said nothing. Prowl looked at the Polyhexian with his wings flared proudly. “I apologize for ordering you around earlier, I saw how that couple reacted towards you and I wanted to intervene before it got worse.”

Jazz looked up at him in slight surprise before going back to focusing to their current destination. “I know you only did it to help me, it’s going to take a long time for others to forgive me and I know this. But I don’t want _their_ forgiveness, not when yours and my friends’ matter. I had fun today, I may have to surprise you again.”

“As long as it is just a visitation from you, my chances of glitching will go down no matter the situation.” Prowl smiled as they came to a stop at the bridge that connected Praxus to Iacon. They both looked at the city that was still a bit away before looking at each other. “Perhaps, we could speak to Ironhide and arrange some time during the lunar cycle to go see a play or something? If you're comfortable with it of course.”

Jazz chuckled before taking his servo in his. “You can call it what it is Prowler. And I'll see if Hide could give me a break for a bit. I'll talk to you later Prowl.” He hugged the mech before pulling away and transformed as he stepped onto the road. He zoomed off with his mirrors adjusting slightly to see Prowl standing there still. _My mate._

When he got back to the house, Jazz flopped on the couch with a heavy sigh. He smiled before throwing his fists into the air while shouting ‘yes' proudly. The Polyhexian was proud of himself for pushing past his fear and went to Praxus to see Prowl. “What's got you so excited kid?” Jazz sat up to see Ironhide coming out of the kitchen with a cube of energon.

“I went to Praxus.” He said with excitement growing before flopping back down. “And I had energon with Prowl.”

The older mech laughed slightly and went over to the living room to join his friend. “You most definitely Blacklight's son. Primus, should've seen him when your Carrier accepted to go on a date with him. He was a bouncy thing that spent all his free time trying to swoon this proud femme.”

The visored mech sat up as he listened to him. “What did she look like? Was Light always that tall or was it after his facial reconstruction that he got taller?”

“Your Carrier was mainly white with some red and blue flame work; she would have only come up to your chest. She was a petite little thing, but a _big_ personality. Light, at least for all I've known him, he was that tall. You have a lot of Torch in you, no matter what anyone tells you. Prime, Ratch’, Magnus, and I were there when they had their ceremony. Not even the old Council was aware of it, not until he started looking around for a safe house in Iacon.” Ironhide leaned forward with a chuckle as he recalled how nervous the usually composed mech was. “Primus, Light was so nervous that he kept kicking his fans into high gear.”

Jazz was looking at him in disbelief at what he was hearing. “The mech didn't flinch at a land mine exploding ten feet away from him!”

The red mech laughed with a nod, “I think it was more that he saw Torch as this innocent being that he was wanting to protect from what his job. When you form a spark bond, you're exposed in all senses as information and memories are transferred from the two parties. He didn't want to ruin her or scare her off.”

“She must've been really in love with him if the duties of an Ops agent didn’t chase her away.” He folded a leg underneath him as he looked at his servos quietly. Jazz looked back up with a curious gaze. “If spark bonds are meant to bring lovers together, how come you and Chromia don't form one?”

“We talk about it, but with a relationship as long as ours we don't need it to show we love each other.” Ironhide explained with a slightly shrug. Jazz nodded in understanding what his friend was saying.

“Oh, so Prowl may comm you about future plans. Because knowing him he's going to treat his as courting and seeing as you currently dangle my freedom over my helm he'll ask you.” Jazz jumped onto his peds with a smile. He left for his room before Ironhide could ask what he should expect. _Easy there my spark._


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ricochet decides to pay a mech a visit. Jazz hates being stuck at home.

Ch. 22

_Megatron was circling Jazz while Soundwave watched from the sidelines. The Polyhexian stood very still, only moving when the silver mech moved an arm or turned his helm. “My, my Jazz what are they giving you over there? So full looking, and from Soundwave's reports four armor upgrades in a meta cycle.”_

_“Thank you for the compliment Lord Megatron. The weapon specialist, Ironhide, has been sending me to workout with him and the mini bots on most of my free time. The CMO also has been giving me supplements in hopes to speed up the process. All orders derive from the remaining Primes.” Jazz answered as the Decepticon lifted his arms in the air. He was extremely uncomfortable with feeling like optic candy, but he obediently stood there in fear of punishment._

_The tyrant ran his digits down his back, getting him to shiver violently. “And how goes your mission to get us our intel?”_

_“I became friends with a young strategist officer. He was an enforcer in Praxus before the war. Sometimes I can get him to show me a virtual demonstration of a future plan.” Jazz tried to minimalize his stutters and whines, but the whimpers did occasionally slip. He had his arms bent back as Megatron stopped in front of him. “I've also scouted out the entire air duct system, there is one vent that is in the strategy room. The security director, Red Alert, has drones that sweeps the entire system every thirty kliks.”_

_The tyrant was pleased with this information. “Soundwave, your pet may be surrounded by mongrels, but he still knows how to act. I believe it's time to reward him.”_

Jazz was whimpering as he tried to close the door on the memory. He turned his helm in the memory, and saw another door appear in the solid wall. The Polyhexian went straight for it and pushed it open.

_“What's your name drone? Anything broken?” Jazz looked over the slowly onlining drone as he held his side with a groan. The drone sat up and looked around with confusion. “Primus, should have paid more attention to Wheeljack about drones._

_“My designation is Field Medic Data; I am a medical drone for dangerous battles where medical commanding officer Ratchet could be a high target. There are additional instructions that was not here previously. Only these features can be downloaded by the permission of an Autobot.” Data said after examining himself._

_Jazz pointed to his chest, “Autobot Second-in-command Jazz, and I give you permission to download all information from the data burst. I need you to help me with my current situation.”_

_Data was silent for a moment before moving again. He climbed off the slab of metal that Jazz had him on. “I will see what I can do, Master Jazz.” The Polyhexian looked genuinely shock before groaning and face palmed._

_“Great spreading the slagging coding around. Data, erase that strand of coding. I just need you to have the Carrier coding.” Jazz ordered as he vented hard, leaning against the wall for support._

_“If I erase the compliance coding, then it will erase the Carrier coding. I will work for an alternative, in the time being your wellbeing is my concern.” Data made his way over to Jazz and lifted him in his arms despite having been in stasis for millions of years. “I will get started on an expandable plate. I will also get this place in order while you rest.” Data informed before getting to examining his patient._

Jazz sat up with a gasp as he felt the ghost of pain in his side. His servos went straight for the area as he tensed in pain. “Fragging frag that hurts.” _I need to find Data. He knows about these blocks._ The Polyhexian looked at Bluestreak after he calmed down a bit.

“That's the same spot you were holding onto in that memory. Do you know what was causing it?” The mech asked as he wrote down notes. Jazz tried to recall anything that could have caused it, but he simply shrugged. “Anything you have on your mind or want to talk about before our session ends?”

The visored mech looked at his servos briefly before looking at the mech. “I haven't had too many harsh onlining from stasis. Last bad one was probably during the storm. So, Blue, when you're done with a case what do you do with the file?”

“Well prewar, it was always enforcers, so I would send the entire case to the captain and give my two creds. That is if the enforcer came to their session and didn't pose a threat to anyone. After that they would be put on light duty and have to go through training once again.” Bluestreak explained before continuing. “With my patients now, we do one final session before I take their case to whoever signed off for my services, give my yay or nay, and then once all signed off for I put it in my completed filing cabinet.”

Jazz nodded before looking at the timer and then out the window. “I want your honest opinion of me. I won't bawl my optics out this time, promise. What is your professional opinion on my progress?”

“Jazz, you know that no matter what type of progress you make won't change the Council's mind on your sentence.” Bluestreak reminded and Jazz continued to stare at him. “But, you have made a _lot_ of progress since the start of this. You've opened up a lot, gaining confidence to travel to other cities without someone, earning a lot of our old comrades’ trusts back, and you haven't gone to see Soundwave. No matter what you may say or think, this is all you.”

Jazz's mouth opened just as the timer went off. He bid his farewell before hugging the Praxian and left the building, only to see Hot Rod and Drift leaning against the building, seemingly waiting for him. He looked at the two mechs with his field wrapped around him. “Yes, Councilor Hot Rod?”

“Hot Rod is fine. We just wanted to make sure that you were actually coming to these sessions, or if Bluestreak was just covering for you.” Hot Rod said as he crossed his arms.

Drift lightly smacked his mate on the shoulder. “What do you mean we? I only came to make sure you didn't antagonize the mech. Everyone already told you that Jazz was going, even the special forces showed you proof. We're sorry Jazz, Hot Rod tends to get a bit… excitable.”

“No, it's alright Drift, I don't have to prove myself to him. Councilor or not, he doesn't like me, and I don't have to like him. I'm going to go see Ratchet now, for a checkup, care to come to _that_ too?” Jazz sarcastically asked as he mockingly bowed to him before stepping onto the side of the street and transformed. He made sure the road was clear before taking off.

The Polyhexian was annoyed all the way to the hospital. He went to the front desk with an annoyed expression on his face. “I have an appointment with Ratchet.”

“Okay, I will inform Ratchet that you are here. Please have a seat in the sitting area.” She looked up with a smile as she gestured at the sitting area. Jazz flashed a smile before going over to the waiting area. He looked around before looking at his wrist, and then he caught a strange glyph that was branded on the inside of his forearm. The mech lifted his arm with further confusion. _Redemption?_ He scratched his helm at when it had appeared, but he knew that from how faint the brand look compared to the other ones it was new-ish. “When did this get there?”

“Jazz, Ratchet is ready to see you now.” A nurse poked her helm through the door that separated the front office with the rest of the clinic. Just like Bluestreak, Ratchet had worked at multiple areas, but unlike Bluestreak Jazz was happy to go to any location Ratchet was at.

“Thanks.” He whispered as he let her guide him to the examining room. Jazz was still confused about the brand on his bicep, but for the time being he was going to ignore it. He was left alone in the room briefly before Ratchet opened the door. “Hey, mind telling firecracker to cool it?”

The medic looked at him with brief confusion before repeating firecracker silently, and then he knew who Jazz was talking about. “Believe me Jazz, would love it if he listened to anyone. He's worse than the twins when it comes to authority. Barely listens to Optimus when he's feeling extra. Only mechs he'll listen to in the slightest are Drift and Magnus.” Ratchet complained to him as he started with his physical examination. “I know you hate bringing him up, but do you know what Soundwave knows about your blindness?”

And Ratchet was right, Jazz always got defensive or retreated whenever the mech was mentioned around him, but Jazz had to push his feelings down for the moment. “I know that when he was altering me to become a Host he was looking into optic surgery. He had notes that he traded with Shockwave. They decided if there was a chance below ninety then it wasn't worth it. Shockwave needed me to look at to decide if it was faulty wiring or if it was in my CNA.”

“Because if it was wiring, easy fix. If it was in your CNA, it wouldn't matter if you did a spark transfer, you'd have no visual feed. And ninety is a fantastical wish, the medical board had long determined that seventy-five was good enough. And there is always the chance that your body would reject the new optics, which could lead to us having to remove it.” He explained as he checked his reflexes in his knees. As soon as the small tool came into contact, Jazz's leg kicked the air slightly.

“Oh phew, was worried all that desk work had screwed my knees.” Jazz joked while Ratchet typed his notes. The medic rolled his optics before checking his auditory horns, but Jazz was soon bobbing his helm and tapping his ped.

“Jazz, sit still.” Ratchet warned him, but Jazz was soon clapping his servo on his thigh. “Jazz sit still!” He rose his voice slightly. The Polyhexian stopped moving with a nervous chuckle.

He pointed outside the door, “I heard a really nice beat out there. You know me Hatch’, gotta get groovy with it.” Jazz got a digit pointed at him which only made him laugh more.

“Yes, well I have a job to do so I _need_ you to sit still while I finish my examination.” Ratchet sat his tool down and looked at the visored mech. “Have you been taking the prescription I gave you for your recharge issue?”

“Yes, and the meds for panic attacks and the supplements for my tanks. Hey Ratchet, I know this isn't the best thing to bring up right now but… I want to say good-bye to him.” Jazz held onto the side of the medical berth as he looked at the floor.

The white and red mech looked at Jazz in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and his lack of a response was all he gave Jazz. The medic stuttered as he changed the subject as quick as he could. “It looks like everything is working just fine. I'll see you for your spark transfer.”

 _Avoiding the topic? That's odd._ Jazz grabbed the mech's wrist and looked deep into his optics. “Ratch' what's up? Did something happen to him?”

“Nothing for you to worry yourself about Jazz, come on I'll see you get back to the lobby safely.” Ratchet was quick to usher the Polyhexian to the front of the hospital. The mech said his farewell to his friend and exited the building.

 _Something's up._ Jazz decided to go pay Telatraan a visit. He was about to transform, but he saw the drone from his memories standing off in the distance. They stared at each other for only moments before Jazz ran after him. Data was quick to turn and walk away from him. _No, no you don't. I need answers._ The Polyhexian slid to a stop when Data stopped at the top of the bridge that overlooked Kaon. Jazz climbed the side of the bridge to stand up beside him. He took a shorter breather before speaking. “I know who you are. I'm starting to remember, but I just want to know. Why did I reactivate you?”

“I was under strict orders by you and Ricochet to not tell you. If the memory blocks I placed are failing, then tell me what you remember. Master Jazz.” Data looked at Jazz with a smile on his face.

Jazz frowned, “don't call me Master. I came to Cybertron looking for what I assume was a medical drone, because I didn't want Ratchet to know. After I brought you online, I gave you something that screwed with your coding and you absorbed a part of the compliance coding. Then a blank. After that I was raising twin mechs, Ricochet and Skids, on Cybertron in what I believe was Halifax's shop. I traveled between Cybertron and Earth to keep them hidden from both sides because I was scared about something. Ricochet is… he's special, I can feel it in my spark. I told them that they couldn't be Autobots because of a decision I made. That's all I remember.”

“They will certainly be happy to know that you are remembering. It is good to see you once again Jazz, but I must return to Kaon. And the coding you gave me was Carrier coding. While you were away, I took place as their Sire and Carrier. Would you like to know why you feared revealing their existence?” He folded his servos in front of him with a smile.

Jazz nodded, “please. I just want to know why didn't trust my friends with them.”

Data nodded as he looked back at Kaon. “Ricochet has a special ability, telepathy, and Skids can process data at an accelerated rate. You had gone out to find some energon as well as parts, and Ricochet had gone after you. He followed you all the way to an abandoned Decepticon base, that housed only scraplets by that time. Had you not heard his screams; you would not have known he had gotten out.”

“Where were you in all of this?” Jazz was in a state of shock by hearing that he almost had gotten an innocent sparkling killed.

“I was with Skids. He had a virus at the time. When you returned, you had a few bites but Ricochet a part of his left hip piston gone. It took a deca-cycle for him to recover. Luckily he was young and could recover fast, and he only has a small scar from the incident.” The drone continued to smile.

Jazz folded his arms and looked at the city he once called home. “And they still live in Kaon. I can't go back to that city; they have to understand that. I didn't tell them what I went through, did I?”

“No, but they do understand. Ricochet has taken your… troubles too personal and wants nothing more than to know you are safe and out of harm's way. Now I really must get going.” Data informed Jazz, who sighed with disappointment. The drone put a servo on the back of his shoulder. “Don’t worry, by December you will remember everything. And if you do ever feel adventurous, they own Halifax’s black market.”

When the drone left Jazz, he sat on the bridge with his arms resting on his legs. He gave a slightly amused chuckle. _‘fax did always say I could have it when he finally rusted. Glad to see that someone is putting it to good use._ Jazz looked at the lights that were swaying in the sky. “Pit fights are still a thing I see.” The Polyhexian sighed heavily once again before going back to the house.

Ironhide was heading out the door as Jazz was walking on the sidewalk. “Jazz, there you are. I’m going to be away for a couple of solar cycles, so no parties please.”

“Where are you going? I have to be here _by myself_? Can’t I like stay with Blaster or something?” Jazz moved next to the door with a frown on his face.

“Council business outside the city. If you want Blaster can stay here with you, but it’s only for a couple days Jazz.” Ironhide offered before giving him the bad news. “I’m sorry Jazz, but you know that I can’t let you stay the night anywhere not without clearing it with Optimus first.”

The visored mech nodded with his shoulder sinking. “I know. You still owe me that trip to Earth.” Jazz jokingly said before stepping inside the house. “I’ll try to keep the party to a… an Ultra Magnus minimum.”

“Ha! Good luck with that kid.” Ironhide teased before heading off to where he needed to be.

Jazz went inside and went straight to his room to take his supplements. He looked at the four capsules in his servo before he knocked them back with a disgusted sound. The Polyhexian took a shower before going to his berth to recharge. The second his helm hit the pillow; Jazz fell into stasis.

In Newgate, Ricochet jumped down from the ceiling and walked straight for Soundwave. _With Skids not here, I don't have to hold back on you bastard._ He started pounding on the cell door with his visors coming off. Ravage and Laserbeak were the first to rise. They stared at him and he nodded. “You know why I'm here monsters. You won't be getting out anytime soon, I won't allow the sovereign.”

“Who are you? Why are you antagonizing my creations?” Soundwave stood up and walked towards him. “You lack an insignia; how did you get in?”

“I was trained by the best. I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to him! And when I'm done with you, I'm going to kill every Decepticon here!” Ricochet shouted as he pulled out his blaster. “You ruined us! You don't deserve life in prison.”

“So rash young mech. And what relation do you have with my pet? I figured with his new bravery, he would disown all of Kaon and anyone that reminded him of the wonderful life I gave him.” Soundwave said as he folded his arms in front of him.

The Polyhexian gripped his blaster tightly as any Decepticon that was now online laughed at what Soundwave said. He clenched his jaw tightly. “He isn't your pet! I am Lord Ricochet of Kaon; I am going to eradicate slavery after I watch all of you burn. You will pay for the crimes you have committed against Kaon and her people!”

“A little firecracker you got there Soundwave. Want to break him?” Ricochet turned his helm to look at Starscream. He walked to the Seeker and placed the barrel of his blaster in the small hole. The white and red mech backed up when he saw the smirk on his face.

“The only one that will break is you. You disgrace.” He fired and the laser bouncing around Starscream’s cell. It bounced one final time before it went straight through his helm. Thundercracker and Skywarp shouted from the cells beside him. Ricochet wiped his helm before looking at Soundwave. “You like mind games Soundwave? Why don't we see how strong you are in your old age?”

His optics narrowed as he slammed against the blue mech's weak mental guards. Soundwave stumbled back slightly from the sheer strength of the attack. “You're insane, stop it.”

 _Why? Why should I? You didn't stop for Jazz. Not when he begged you to forgive him for every little thing he did. You didn't stop when you allowed Devastator to nearly rip him in half. You didn't stop when you turned off his blockers and drunkenly interfaced him!_ Ricochet shouted in his mind as he forced the memories to come to the forefront of his mind. Soundwave grabbed the side of his helm as he dropped to a single knee. _Jazz wanted you to be happy with him, but all you wanted was to break him just like what you did to your Carrier!_

The Cassetticons started reacting to the pain that was through their bond. Soundwave's optics stun, when he touched his cheeks, he saw energon on the tips of his digits. _So much raw power._ He stared in amazement at how untamed this mech was. “Stop. You'll kill them.”

“Why would I care? They're as much of a monster as you.” Ricochet held his blaster out, getting ready to fire but the elevator tinged. He whipped his helm to the door as it opened up to reveal the guards. The Polyhexian put on his visors and quickly ran for the wall, flipping off of it and into the hole he jumped from.

Springer ran for the hole and pointed his handgun at it. He looked down at his peds and saw energon drops that led to his escape. ::Prison lock down. Intruder in lower levels. Get a medic down here.::

Jazz was at work, heading to Blaster's space with a few data pads in his servos. He also wanted to talk to Telatraan and ask him a few things. When he got there and per usual Jazz walked in, about to greet his current Host, but what he wasn't expecting was to see Ravage in his arms. Jazz froze in the doorway, Blaster looked up with all of the symbionts staring back at the Polyhexian.

“Jazz, Ah can explain. Just don't flip yer lid yet.” Blaster put his servos in the air as he felt Jazz's side spike with stress.

“R-Ra-Ra-Ravage. I-I-I.” He started drawing in heavy intakes as he started backing up slowly. The black feline looked incredibly weak to the panicked mech, so much in fact that he watched him struggle to even move his helm.

“He's dyin' J. There was a break in at Newgate, and they all got hurt. Ah told Prime tah let meh try and help him. He ain't gonna hurt ya.” Blaster explained as he massaged the feline's back legs.

Jazz moved to the far corner of the room to stay as far from the monster as possible. _He has to be faking this. Don't believe him Blaster._ He shouted through the bond. “What about the others?”

 _They are with Soundwave still. I took most of the damage from that slagger._ Ravage hissed angrily. Jazz flinched and hugged the datapads closer to him. The black feline adjusted himself with a grunt. _So much for that bravery. Once a pet always a pet._

Jazz turned his helm away with a frown. _Once a pet always a pet._ He repeated to himself before setting the datapads on a table near him. “I have stuff to do.” The Polyhexian kept his helm down as he moved out quickly. Jazz went back to the office where Optimus was talking away with Elita-One. The two stopped in mid-conversation when they watched the visored mech collapse in his chair with such a lost expression.

“Jazz?” Optimus called out, but Jazz looked down at his arms and the Prime didn't like where that was going to lead. “Jazz?”

Elita walked over to the multicolored mech, placing a servo on his shoulder. Jazz instantly jumped and looked up at the pink femme. “Jazz, are you okay?” The mech just nodded silently and looked at his terminal. “You look like you're on the verge of crying.”

“I will not give that damned cat the satisfaction of me crying. I am fine, just… disconcerted is all.” He kept his focus on the terminal as he opened up the email when he saw that he had a few new messages since he left. When he opened the first one it was another smear email from one of the other employees in the building that attached an image of the Decepticon insignia that said in big bold red font ‘SYMPATHIZER’. Jazz shot up quickly on his peds and just left the room.

 _I can't wait for this all to be over._ Jazz went to the roof and started screaming at the open empty sky. He was getting tired of everyone reminding him of the evil things he did. While the mech stared at the suns off in the distance the sound of someone landing behind him caught his attention. Jazz quickly whipped around, seeing the mech that chased him and Hound now slowly rising to his peds.

“You ra- You're not the failsafe. You're aware.” Meister sounded surprised to Jazz. And he saw his insignia sitting on his chest.

 _All my things went missing before I turned myself in._ Jazz took a step forward, but Meister stepped back. He put his servos in front of him urgently. “No, please don't go. I'm starting to remember. I know you can hear my thoughts, Ricochet. You have my insignia, my rifle, and my Sire's mask. Which means you have the rest of my stuff, are you keeping it all safe until I do remember? I didn't mean to… call you, I just am frustrated with everything right now.”

“Data told us that you were becoming more aware. I… Jazz I can still take you off world, far away from this place. They want to keep us apart, even after I've explained that we're… your charges.” Meister looked into Jazz's visors and clenched his fists. He remained where he was. “But yes, Skids and I are keeping your things safe.”

Jazz shook his helm and looked away as he held his arm to his side. “How can you two see me as some kind of saint? Do you know what I did during the war? I killed a lot of Bots, a lot of good mechs and femmes all because I was fed lies. Optimus will understand once I understand. Just give me time Ricochet, I know I once loved you both enough to protect you, but right now I don't know what is right or wrong.”

Meister frowned behind his mask and he walked closer to Jazz but stopped when there were only a few feet between them. “Do you think Optimus or any of the others would accept me? Skids, they may give a pass because of his optics and how much of a war hero his Sire is, but what about me? When you remember who my Sire is would you still accept me? Jazz, I'm scared of being abandoned again. You once told me that family isn't about CNA, but how can I believe that when anyone takes one look at my optics and retreats out of fear?”

“If I knew who your Sire was back then and still treated you the way my memory files claim, then I will always accept you. Co, I will _never_ abandon either of you. If I blocked my memories it was because I was scared, and when I get scared, I react differently. Is it your optics they run from or your telepathy that scares them?” Jazz stared at him, and the mech looked away and Jazz got his answer. “Ricochet, I have been around telepaths all my functioning. I don't want you falling down the path you're going, control yourself and get trained. Do it for me, please.”

Meister sighed and looked up at his caretaker. He removed the Autobot insignia and held it out to Jazz. “If it will make you feel better, I'll… I'll do it. I have to return to Kaon.”

The Polyhexian took the badge carefully, looking down at it with a gentle smile as he ran his digits down the shiny metal. He looked back up and saw that Meister was gone. _Misunderstood, that's all you are Ricochet._ Jazz went back down to the office where Optimus still was. The Prime stood with worry; Jazz went to speak but Optimus was first to pull him in a crushing hug. “Oof. P-Prime let go. Squeezing.”

“Oh, sorry, got a little carried away.” Optimus sat Jazz down and looked him over like Ironhide or Ratchet would. The Polyhexian just sighed and let the Prime do his inspection. “Are you hurt? I am so sorry Jazz; I didn't realize how bad you've been treated. Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because I didn't want you worry any more than you already do. I'm fine, just was getting some air is all.” Jazz answered. Optimus went to speak, but his optics locked onto the shiny object in his friend's servo. The Polyhexian looked at it before quickly extending it out to him. “Here, I should've given it to you instead of stashing it. And I know what you're going to say, but I still don't remember any more than what I told Blue. I did chat with Ricochet, it's how I got it back. And he's just misunderstood Optimus, he is angry at the world because of my mistakes.”

Optimus took it before giving it back to his friend. “You are always welcome to rejoining the team Jazz, Hot Rod intends to go off world sometime in the future with a small crew. If you feel that Ricochet won't harm you or anyone else, then I will not stop him from seeing you.”

Jazz shoved the emblem back at the Prime. “Optimus, Ah don't want another Prime. Yer _my_ Prime and if yer not goin', then neither am Ah. But Ah don't deserve bein' a Bot again because Ah don't feel Ah deserve dat honor again.” He took a calming intake before chuckling in astonishment. “Wow guess you all were right when you said about me and my slang. Sorry about that Prime.”

“Don't be Jazz. How about this, I'll keep it until after your spark transfer. If you still wish to remain neutral, then I will respect your wishes and get rid of it.” The Prime offered and the smile from the much smaller mech was a good enough answer for him. It was later in their work shift, and Optimus was listening to Jazz softly sing a song. _He must've gotten lost in his little world again._ For the Prime it had become a recent habit that the Polyhexian obtained, whenever he was relaxed and in a great helm space he would start singing when he thought no one was listening.

“Is it too bold to say that you still have a pleasant voice? Reminds me of the times Torch would sing.” Optimus said with a smile in his words. Jazz looked up with a brief bit of shock before it turned into an embarrassed smile and his face heating up. The Prime laughed at the reaction he got from his friend. “Would you like to see?”

The visored shifted in his chair with an uncomfortable sound coming from him. “I don’t know Optimus; I _do_ want to see my Carrier but a hardline? I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.” Jazz rubbed his servos over his chest as he felt his systems protesting over something.

“Jazz, are you ok?” Optimus put a servo on his friend’s back and the Polyhexian waved it off with a forced chuckle. He sat down at his desk as he felt some relief. “Jazz, are you sure you’re okay?”

He nodded as he saw warnings pop up in his HUD, which was odd for the Polyhexian, but he deactivated them. “I’m fine Prime just a bit… tired suddenly. Systems reading a power diversion, but it shouldn't be.”

“Perhaps you should see Ratchet.” Optimus suggested and Jazz nodded in agreement. The Prime didn't like the sudden lack of energy his friend had. He thought it was odd, remembering seeing this when he had that sparkling before Soundwave took it away. _There is no possible chance that he is sparked. Unless things with Prowl have been a lot better than either let on._

At the end of Jazz's shift, he gathered his things and left in a hurry. He was excited about the spark transfer that was just around the corner. _Just a few more solar cycles, and a new frame._ The Polyhexian made it back home and laid down in his berth with a tired groan. “Finally, a day off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys hate my 'summaries'? XD


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ironhide and Jazz have a fight. Prowl sits with Jazz during one of his sessions with Bluestreak.

Ch. 23

_Jazz sat at his office in the ARK, reading a recent ops mission with a bored expression on his face. He was rubbing his chest with a groan, he knew he should go see Ratchet, but he didn't feel sociable. “Calm down Jazz, don't show anything is wrong or Soundwave will know. I can't let him find out about this. It's bad enough you're risking everything for a chance.”_

_The Polyhexian stood up and held the datapad in his servo. “All you have to do is slip Prowl the sedative, give him everything, and then confess to Prime. And pray to fragging Primus that he understands why I did it. I need to make sure that the twins are safe… no I can't risk Blaster finding out.”_

The memory was interrupted by the failsafe slamming that door shut. He forced a memory to come forward of Jazz messing around with a power box.

_“Almost, almost, almost-" Jazz jumped back with a surge of electricity going through his systems and he grabbed his servo with a shout of pain. “Frag! Fragging! Slaggit!” The visored mech kicked the wall before dropping to the ground as he started to cry out his frustration._

_He took a few frustrated intakes before wiping his face as he rose to his peds. “Okay Jazz, you got this. It's no different than all the times you've cut power. Just ya know in reverse.” The Polyhexian started running the wires against each other before the emergency lights came on. He got even more excited until the actual lights came on. “Yes! Yes! Now for the water.”_

The Polyhexian started pulling out of the memory, taking his time. He felt Prowl's field encouraging him to come back to the real world. Jazz sat up slowly with a groan before pressing his back against the couch. Bluestreak waited until Jazz was a bit more aware before asking him his usual questions. The Praxian tested the field and proceeded to ask.

“Can you tell me about the first memory? What was the purpose of giving Prowl a sedative?” Bluestreak asked as if his brother wasn't sitting right next to the mech in question.

Jazz rubbed his servos nervously, closing himself from the two but he knew that it wouldn't help him. “I didn't want Prowl to see me giving back the gifts because it already hurt too much. If he was in stasis when I gave it all back, then it wouldn't hurt as much. Leading up to my confession, it took a lot of strength to keep the act up. If I blocked off the pain and worry away from the resident telepaths, then there wouldn't be any chances of them finding out about Operation: Europe.”

“What's Operation: Europe?” Bluestreak shifted forward in his seat.

“I-I…I don't remember. I know Europe was code for… for Cybertron. And I told Telatraan that if anyone asked about my whereabouts to just say I’m dealing with Operation: Europe.” Jazz rubbed the back of his helm before his frame went rigid. Prowl and Bluestreak watched Jazz reach for one of the styluses on the table in front of them. He started drawing out glyphs on the screen. _Halifax’s shop, my secret is safe there. Don’t hurt them, scared of losing their Carrier._ Jazz gasped as he fell backwards with the stylus falling to the ground.

“Jazz, Jazz, Jazz are you okay? Can you hear us?” Prowl was quick to worry about the mech that was staring with a dazed look on his face. Bluestreak was in utter shock of what to do; for one Jazz had never reacted this way when they would talk about his memories, and he had never seen Prowl’s wings move almost as fast as Smokescreen’s. The Polyhexian’s visors were slowly rebooting and he felt Prowl’s field spiking with worry. “Jazz, answer me.”

“I blacked out again, didn’t I?” He looked at the other mechs with a small frown as a servo went to his helm. Jazz froze when Prowl pulled him into arms tightly, it was just like the time he told him about the sparkling. His servos slowly moved to his back before he hugged him just as tight, his digits dug into his frame as he hid his face in the white mech’s neck. _I love you too Prowler._ Jazz finally pulled away with his face heated up with embarrassment.

The ringing came and Jazz knew what that meant. He stood up with Prowl’s servo in his hold. Bluestreak stood with a smile on his face, “well despite your little black out episode I’d mark this as a really good session. Homework tonight is to buff out those glyphs you’ve been putting on yourself.”

The visored mech tensed and dropped his helm. “Saw those did ya?”

“No, Ironhide mentioned it. And Blaster confirmed when you two realigned the bond. You can’t be doing this type of stuff to yourself Jazz, whether you believe it helps or not. Tonight, I want you to buff out all of the negativity. If you start doing it again, force yourself to put something positive. Think you can do that?” Bluestreak explained Jazz’s homework when he took the mech’s right arm, exposing all of the chipped paint that had glyphs written in him.

Jazz covered them with his free servo. He wanted to say no, but the supportive feeling of Prowl gave him the courage to nod. “Yeah, I think I can do that. Next week?”

“Actually, I’ll be seeing you at the end cycle! Mirage is having some sort of party for some reason. He said it was exciting news though!” Bluestreak said with a happy flutter of his wings.

Jazz was surprised to hear about this party, which explained Ironhide asking if he had the day before the end cycle off and Blaster was making such a large playlist. He gave Bluestreak a hug before following Prowl outside. They walked in silence, but when Jazz let his field overlap with Prowl’s he wasn’t mad or upset with him. Prowl looked down at the mech when he felt their overlapped fields. “Are you truly okay Jazz? I was scared that you were going to crash.”

“I’m okay now. Thank you for coming to this today. It meant a lot to have your support. I understand if you’re mad at me, I would be.” The Polyhexian dropped his servo and hugged himself with a deep frown. Prowl, once again, pulled him into his arms with a small rumble of his engines. “Prowl, did you read the datapad that I gave you?”

“Jazz, I understand that you were afraid of the circumstances and did what you thought was best. Though I wish you had put some faith in me wishing to give you a better life after the war. And, I couldn’t bring myself to read it after I saw you being incarcerated. Still can’t get myself to turn it on.” Prowl admitted with slight guilt in his words. Jazz looked up at Prowl before leaning against his frame. “Would it be too premature to ask if I could help you clean yourself?”

The visored mech looked up in shock at the offer. He bit his lip with a whine accidently escaping his voice box. Prowl had to come up with a different plan, realizing how sensitive the offer was. “I apologize Jazz, I didn’t think it was a sensitive area of conversation. Perhaps I take you to the one of the spa houses in the downtown sector of Iacon? It’s public.”

 _He isn’t going to hurt you, you idiot! Prowl had plenty of times to hurt you. It’s not like he was asking to frag, he said he wouldn’t do that until you make the first move._ Jazz shook his helm before putting a smile on his lips. “No, I think I will be okay with just a shower. I have to do stuff around the house anyways.”

“If you believe you are comfortable with this level of… intimacy.” Prowl carefully said, not wanting to scare Jazz’s systems into thinking anything. He didn’t even want to give his own systems any false hope that Jazz truly wanted to reestablish their love. Despite the flame that had ignited in his cold spark after their first outing together.

The ex-Autobot laughed behind his servo before holding the enforcer’s servo once again. “I do.”

The pair arrived back at the house, their optics, like their focus, was locked on each other. They completely missed Ironhide and Ultra Magnus in the kitchen chatting it up in the kitchen, and only stopped when they saw the two go down the hall. Jazz realized this was the first time that Prowl had seen his room.

“I believe your quarters on the ARK were cleaner than this.” Prowl teased while Jazz scrambled around to pick up the scattered datapads. The Polyhexian tossed them all on his berth with a sheepish chuckle.

“I was having a lot of good days, and it led to this explosion of songs. And well thirty pads later this happened.” Jazz returned the jest and went over to the desk, picking up a framed image that he took from one of his memories. Prowl walked over to him and gave half a chuckle. The image was of Prowl sitting at his desk with his helm resting in his arms as he had fallen in stasis. “That was the day after the anniversary party of us landing on Earth. We were both pretty overcharged, but I stared at you for groons.”

“You know, my favorite memory is of us looking the stars.” Prowl admitted before testing boundaries by standing behind Jazz. The Polyhexian turned around and gave a small yelp when he was bumper to bumper to Prowl. The Praxian was quick to step back. “I apologize for startling you; I was wishing to see what was too close for you.”

Jazz sat the frame down and shook his helm with uneasiness. “No, no it's okay. I was just not expecting you to be _that_ close to me. Shower now?” The Praxian nodded in conformation and the visored mech guided him to the washroom with his field open to show how unsure he was with something.

“If you wish I can wait out here. I do not wish to cause you to panic.” Prowl offered when they stopped inside the average sized washroom. _No obvious signs of him indulging in self harm._ Jazz turned the hot water on and turned the fan on to prevent the mirror from fogging up.

“No, I'll be okay Prowler. Just… waist up only?” Jazz stepped into the shower first before allowing Prowl to get in next. The Praxian turned his wings slightly out of the way as they just stared at each other. Prowl was reaching for the soap behind Jazz, and the mech flinched hard with a whimper. His battle computer told him that if he continued this event then Jazz would glitch for sure. Jazz saw the understanding expression in the other’s optics, and he felt a grave amount of shame when he cupped his cheek plate and was left alone in the shower.

After nearly a groon in the shower, Jazz finally emerged from the washroom with Prowl looking at one of the datapads that were sitting on his berth. “Hey, sorry about earlier. I guess I was moving too fast. You’re scowling, what’s wrong?” The Polyhexian stopped talking when he had seen the deep frown on the white faceplate. Prowl turned the tablet around, showing a memory of Jazz looking over Ricochet and Skids as they recharged. _No, no, no I’m not ready. Why did he look at that!?_ Jazz started shaking as his world started crumbling. “Prowl, I-I-I can explain. Well kind of, but please don’t be mad at me. I kept them a secret to protect them, from Soundwave.”

Prowl stood and just sat the datapad on the berth. “You found sparklings, broke several forms of protocol, and refrained from speaking of this _critical_ information to Optimus. Jazz, you were careless and risked the future of these sparklings all because of something that wasn’t going to happen. How can I trust you weren’t going to just hand them off to Soundwave, _if_ the Decepticons won?”

“Prowl? Please, I-.” Jazz was interrupted by Prowl putting a servo between them, and he started panicking more. He was quick to fall to his knees and made Prowl’s digits firmly grip his horns as he cried. “Please, please I can’t lose you. Please don’t be mad at me. Please Prowl, I’ll do anything! I-I-I’ll be your pet.”

Prowl pulled his servos away with a shake of his helm. “I don’t _want_ a pet, Jazz. I want a sparkmate that can trust me. I just need some time to think. Good-bye Jazz.” He kept his wings held high as he left Jazz on the floor.

Jazz fell onto all fours, covering his helm with his arms as he screamed. He cried for a solid five groons before he came out of his room. Ultra Magnus and Ironhide heard the door open, but then heard the sound of Jazz trying to break into another room. The red mech knew exactly what room that was, and he was quick to put a stop to it. He pulled him away while Jazz started thrashing around, and even tried to bite Ironhide. “Kid, Kid calm down. What happened? If you draw energon, you’re going to go back Jazz. Do you hear me?”

The larger mech pulled out his cuffs to try and scare Jazz out of it, but he went limp as he started bawling again. “H-He doesn’t want m-me. P-Prowl hates me. He’s just like Soundwave. I c-can’t do this anymore. Let me go back, they’ll make the pain go away.”

Ironhide let himself go to his knees and changed his hold into a hug. “You’re not going back Jazz. Just calm down, okay? We all know how Prowl can get, he’ll soon come running back to say sorry. Come on, do ya need me to comm Blaster?” He wasn’t going to tell him that he did when he saw Prowl walk out. The Polyhexian nodded weakly before Ironhide helped Jazz onto his peds and took him to the living room and helped him onto the couch. Magnus gave his quick farewells just as Blaster arrived. Blaster went straight for the Jazz as he cried into the couch. “I’ll go get energon.”

“Thanks.” Blaster took Ironhide’s place and pulled the limp frame into his arms. He let his field overlap the other field despite how much he was withdrawing. _J don’t close dah bond. It’s safe. We’re safe. Ah’ll talk tah Prime and have ya move in with meh and dah minis._ When the Host felt the strong pull from the bond followed by a concerned comm form Ironhide, he was the angriest he had ever been. And he knew that when he saw Prowl again, he was going to have a few choice words for him.

Jazz was holding onto the red and yellow mech’s neck as he tried to hold onto the bond, but his memories kept holding onto Prowl’s reaction. _He was so mad at me when he found about them Blaster. Prowl’s my everything, I don’t want to lose him again. Why did I have to exist? I ruin everything. I don’t deserve any of this, I don’t deserve the bond._ The Polyhexian didn't know how or what to feel at this point. He thought Prowl understood, his symbiotic systems were even more in a whirl of confusion and pain. It was like he got rejected by his Host.

“J-man, ya gotta ignore those systems. Yer spark has tah get used tah bein' a single mech. Remember we're gonna be breakin' it before ya transfer.” They had talked about it while they could, and Jazz hadn't need to hold onto the bond as much as he once did. He nodded with a small whine. “Ah know it hurts what parts are a symbiont, but yer gonna get through dis and bounce back.”

The Polyhexian looked into the other's visors with a pained expression. He looked away as if ashamed. “If I wasn't so scared, we would have taken that shower and Prowl would have never seen it. He thinks I was going to give them to Soundwave. He said he understood me.”

“Prowl's just is an idiot. A Sire mech no less; Sire mechs don't understand dah struggle us Carriers have tah go through. Ya did what ya thought was best tah keep those sparklin's safe from a life of enslavement. Give him a bit tah work out dah kinks. And if he hurts ya again, just say dah word and Ah'll hack into his systems and play dah most annoyin’ song Earth has tah offer inside his internal speakers.”

Jazz chuckled a bit at the thought of thought of that. He nodded while he wiped his face. “Thanks Blaster.”

Ironhide finally returned with cubes and handed them to the two mechs. “Need me to punch him for ya?” The cyan visored mech shook his helm with a hitched laugh. “Alright, and this is why that door is locked. And don't think for a second I won't be doing my inspections again.”

“I know.” Jazz mumbled into the edge of the cube before he started drinking it. He sat the cube down with a heavy sigh. The mech laid his helm down in the red and yellow mech's lap. _I can't wait for the spark transfer. Can you stay here until I fall into stasis?_

 _If ya want, just don't death hold meh._ Blaster answered with a physical chuckle. He looked over at the mech that was standing over them. “Ah got dis Hide. No need tah hover.”

“Okay, okay I'll go work out for a bit then.” He said with a huff as he left them, only to return and rant. “And I was _not_ hovering. I don't hover.”

“Uh huh.” Blaster snickered as he went back to rubbing the black horns. He watched Jazz stare in front of him, but he was soon drifting into stasis. The visored mech smiled down at the other at how innocent he had looked. Some would see his love for the Polyhexian as romantic, a few asked why he never went for it to court him, but from the moment they met Blaster knew he wasn't a potential lover. He saw him as a dear friend and thanks to the bond a mock creation. Blaster knew it was the same for Ratchet and Ironhide, but it had to do with the fact he reminded them of Blacklight.

When Jazz onlined again, he was in his room with an arm wrapped around him tightly. He froze as he felt whoever it was that was holding him moved closer to him. The Polyhexian, at first, thought it was Blaster but the chest that was pressed against him was too curved. The mech looked down to see whose arm was holding him. _White… and… black._ Jazz sat up in a hurry and looked down to see Prowl in stasis beside him.

He started drawing in harsh intakes as he moved away from the mech. His wings started moving when his field flared. Prowl started onlining as Jazz scrambled out, accidentally falling to the ground. “Jazz? Jazz, what's wrong?”

“Wh-What are you doing here? Didn't you do enough damage by telling me you didn't want me?” Jazz had fresh tears falling as he backed away from the berth.

Prowl sat up with his face twisting in confusion. “What are you talking about Jazz? You asked me to recharge with you after the shower. Given Ironhide has the cameras on in your room, I would say he didn't believe my word when I told him we would only be cuddling.”

 _That wasn't real? Prowl didn't find the datapad? We took a shower and napped?_ Jazz calmed down and crawled back into the berth. “Did I take anything before our nap?” The Praxian answered the question with a nod before turning and picked up the bottle that was on the nightstand. “That explains the fogginess. Ratchet says they can cause me to be a bit confused for a bit, but it'll clear up after a few kliks.”

“You don't think I would leave you, do you? I meant what I said about you being my seventy percent.” Prowl looked only slightly hurt, but Jazz was quick to cuddle next to the mech and hold him tightly to his frame.

“No, my processor just snapped to a dark place.” Jazz pressed closer to the Praxian before looking down and bit his lip. _Should I tell him?_ “Prowl, would you be mad if I show you bits of the memories I had blocked? I… I copied them to this datapad to look at. Hoping I could solve this puzzle myself, but so far no luck.” Jazz explained pulled out the datapad from under the pillow Jazz had been laying on. He held onto the pad with uncertainty, but he powered it on with a shaky sigh.

Prowl watched everything that Jazz had transferred and the orders he believed they were set in. Jazz saw the wings going rigid and his spark started squeeze in hurt at the idea of the supposed nightmare becoming reality. He pulled away with his arms holding himself with his field pulling away from the other mech’s. Prowl sat the datapad down when he got to the point where Jazz was talking to Data about the twins’ health. The Praxian pulled Jazz back in his arms despite the mech struggling in his hold. “Jazz, I’m not mad. Read my field. Jazz, stop struggling.”

The visored mech stopped his struggle and felt the field surrounding him. He looked at Prowl with his bottom lip quivering. “Y-Y… You’re not m-mad? You’re not going to leave me because I broke protocol?”

“You broke protocol to protect those younglings. I cannot justify being mad at you for wishing to protect them anyway possible. Can I know their names? Are they still on Cybertron?” The Praxian asked him with his wings flicking. Jazz’s intake hitched as he tried to not cry in front of Prowl. He was hoping this was actual reality and not just a fantasy his processor made up to handle Prowl leaving him.

“They’re still on Cybertron, Kaon actually. The Polyhexian is Ricochet, the Praxian is Skids. I don’t know the extent of our… Prowl, why do you have that expression on your face? Don’t crash on me, I don’t think I can mentally handle it right now.” He was slowly pulling away to make sure that Prowl wasn’t going to start glitching.

Prowl shook his helm after he took a moment to collect himself. The first name he didn’t recognize at all, but the second one he most definitely knew of. “I recognize one of the names. Skids, Mirage had come to Praxus and questioned me about him. He was also pacing around the gates of Newgate I believe a deca-cycle before you were released. Though, at the time he claimed to be visiting his Sire, which now I realize was just a lie to hide the fact he was most likely seeing you.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “And you don’t know who their creators are?”

“All I know is that from what I can recall Ricochet’s Sire is Tarn Native and Skids’s is obviously Praxian. Which means that there was some trine or triad action going on. They were pretty young when I found them, at least that’s what I think happened cause my only memories of them are as younglings. And from what I can remember there was only the drone and myself, in every memory.” Jazz stood up and looked at the door leading to the rest of the house. “Do you want some energon or something? I kinda want something with heat in it, ooh actually no! I’ve got a good idea, come on.”

The Polyhexian took the other’s servo before leading the Praxian to the kitchen with a smile on his face. Prowl focused all his attention at the smiling fool, which made his wings subconsciously flutter despite how stoic his face was. He paid no mind to the red mech that was poking his helm out of the room to make sure the two behaved. Prowl even set his comlink’s rarely used ‘do not disturb' option. “Heat? That is a new one. What are we doing?”

“Right? It’s just been this weird craving I’ve been having since my last session. But actually, you told me, if I remember correctly when I told you about my big blue star, you didn’t know I cooked. And well why don’t we make something?” Jazz pulled out the large datapad and powered it up. “Don’t worry nothing too crazy. Probably some frozen gel cubes.”

“I have enjoyed the treats you have sent me. Stopped going to the usual shops if I felt like snacking. Though I believe if Ratchet were to find out most of my diet at work consisted of gels, he would hit me with his wrench.” Prowl said in all seriousness, but Jazz started laughing at the joke.

“I won't tell him if you don't.” Jazz stopped scrolling on the datapad when he landed on the one he was searching for. “I met Sunray, I'm glad Smokey found someone. Maybe Blue and the twins will give each other a chance.”

Prowl nodded and resisted staring up and down on Jazz's back. His optics started at his peds and then slowly moved up to his aft before it lingered there for a moment and moved to his back. “She's a very sweet femme. I was surprised that she gave my brother a chance at courting, because of his racing and gambling. Though from what Smokescreen said, she monitors his gambling very closely.”

The black and white mech laughed into his servo. “I would've played along. Okay first three scoops of silver dust.” He didn't look up as he knew where it was. Jazz stood on the ends of his peds with his digits feeling around for it. The Polyhexian frowned and saw that the box was gone, which he thought was impossible as it was a new box. Prowl cleared his voice box, getting Jazz's attention, and in his servo was the box he was looking for. “Oh, thank you.”

The visored mech took it and poured the scoops into the large pot that had been sitting on the stove. Prowl watched as Jazz scurried around the kitchen, placing the ingredients into the pot before grabbing a cube of energon from the cooler. “Have you done everything from that pad?”

“Pretty much. These are just the common recipes.” Jazz shrugged while pouring the entire cube into the pot. He grabbed a ladle from a nearby drawer before turning the heat on. “You know, this is one of the few things I'm grateful Soundwave forced me to do.”

Prowl tried to hide the frown at the mention of Soundwave as he asked his follow up question. “And what are the other things?”

“Joining the Autobots.” Jazz turned to show off the genuine smile on his face. They stared into each other’s optics before the sound of the energon boiling quickly snapped the two out of it. The Polyhexian grabbed the spatula and started stirring it until it was a purple-silver color.

 _I will have to dig through our things._ Prowl thought to himself as he thought of a great way to show off that he wished to court Jazz. “Would you like me to do anything? Or did you just want something nice to look at?”

Jazz's helm slowly shot up and he started laughing hard into his servo. “Now all we need is music huh?” He started laughing again until he cried from laughing so hard. The Polyhexian forced himself to calm down before pointing to the freezer section in the cooler. “Could you grab the trays out of the freezer?”

Ironhide was keeping a close receptor and optic on the pair, he knew that Prowl wouldn't be the type to force himself onto an unwanted mech. No, it was Jazz forcing himself to interface with Prowl that Ironhide was worried about. When he heard Jazz's laugh not once but twice he had to pop in to see what was going on. He peeked into the kitchen and saw Jazz helping Prowl pour the energon into trays before putting different additives into each one. Prowl's wings were fluttering at every little thing Jazz did. He went back into the living room and shot a message to Optimus to let him know what was going on.

Back in the kitchen Jazz and Prowl were cleaning up their mess. The winged mech was drying the dishes off while occasionally glancing down at Jazz. “So, I was able to talk to Ironhide about taking you out to see a play in Helix. Which does go a half a groon past your curfew, and he said that as long as I bring you back as soon as it is finished, then he will let it pass this time.”

Jazz instantly perked up with a smile, “really? That's amazing! What's the play about?”

“If I remember the synopsis correctly, it is about two warring families and the heirs to the opposing households fall in love.” Prowl answered the best way he could, but he saw Jazz instantly lit up.

“Romeo and Juliet!? Isn't that an Earth play?” His questions were both answered with a nod. He got even more excited. “I love that play! I'd have Telatraan read it to me when I was on monitor duty. They must've changed a bit of it to fit Cybertron.”

Prowl nodded as he sat the final dish down on the counter. “I did a bit of research and they did change a bit, but the play was more or less able translated smoothly. It will be in two solar cycles, starting midday with a couple breaks.”

The Polyhexian was just too excited to hold himself in anymore, and hugged Prowl's neck tightly. Prowl was a bit startled by the reaction, but he hugged Jazz around his waist. “Thank you so much Prowler.”

“You're welcome Jazz, thank you for allowing me to take you.” He pressed his chevron against the side the black and white mech's helm. “I hate to end this day like this, but I have work early in the morning and have to attend a family lunch with Sunray’s family.”

Jazz pulled away with his face heated up and nodded with embarrassment. “I suppose I'll allow you to leave, this time of course.” He looked at the freezer before he remembered. “Oh, they should be done by tomorrow, but I'll save them for our-”

“Date. I look forward to it.” The two moved to the front door. Prowl took one of Jazz's servos and smiled down at it before running a couple calculations. _Ninety percent in my favor._ When the Praxian got the number he wanted, he just went for it. He stepped into Jazz's personal space and kissed the center of his helm, just above his visors. “Have a good cycle Jazz.”

Jazz's field was instantly flared, and he was left nearly speechless. “Y-Yeah. You… too.” He waited for the door to close behind the Praxian before his legs gave out, and he slid down the door with a lovesick sigh. _He kissed me._ There was a lopsided smile on the visored mech's face.

Ironhide stood over him with an optic ridge lifted. “Oh, Primus kid. Come on get up off the floor.” He took his arm and helped him onto his peds. “I swear to Primus if you start humming and twirling and cover this place in earth hearts I'm going to purge.”

Jazz laughed at how annoyed the red mech was, but he shook his helm. “No, I won't do that. But Primus-" He pressed his back against the door with that look of cyber puppy love. “Prowl is just… wow.”

“Prowl is cold, a pain in the aft, stuck up, and has a rod up his aft. Wow is not a word I would use for him.” Ironhide said with a huff, but he was happy to see that Jazz was happy once again. “Just remember don't ‘face because you think it'll make him happy.”

“I'm not there yet either.” Jazz pulled himself together just long enough to join Ironhide in the living room before he became a gooey mess on the couch. Having enough of Jazz's sighs, Ironhide turned on the holoscreen and turned it to the pit fights.

“ _Kaonite twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe in the left corner, they are sponsored by Lord Ricochet Meister. I have to just say this young lord certainly stirred up trouble here in Kaon after demanding the Kaon court to reestablish itself. King Cog certainly wasn’t too happy about the mech threatening him, but he hasn't shown his face after nearly dozen of lords and countesses favored Ricochet’s opinion.” An announcer said while the twins’ opponents came out of their door._

_“And their opponents seem to be a couple of newcomers. Runabout and Cable, both from Vos. Sponsored by Vos Countess Slipstream. And I don't know about you, Duster, but I think Lord Ricochet is in over his helm if he thinks that King Cog would just give up everything Kaon is known for. And- ooh right to the face, excellent punch given by Sunstreaker.” The other announcer said._

_“Aren't they fighting for contracts?” Duster looked at the other mech before reacting to an attack the mech named Cable attempted at making. “Ooh another fantastic charge done by Sideswipe! These two are unstoppable!”_

_“They sure are, winner gets the loser's contracts and make whatever changes they want. But from the looks of things this fight is about to end. That's what you get for sticking Seekers into a fighting ring like Kaon.” The still unnamed announcer said before Runabout jumped in the air and started shooting before he crashed to the ground. The crowd started booing and threw things at the mech that was still thrashing around._

_“Illegal use of transformation and firearms! Immediate loss for Countess Slipstream! Lord Ricochet Meister of Kaon remains at number one! This is Charge up and Duster, bringing you the play by play announcements.”_

The video went to commercial and Jazz was literally on the edge of his seat. He had been watching how the twins were beating their opponents up, both sides were equally damaged, but the twins were standing proudly with proud revs of their engines. _Thank Primus._ Jazz relaxed back again he had to remind himself that they won. “I wish those two gave up the Pits.” Ironhide said aloud.

“That's asking a lot Hide, Sunny and Sides were practically raised in the Pits. That's like… like asking me to give up music. It's all they know, I think they are lucky that they don't have a sponsor like this one Lord named Demonstrator, not his real name but that's what he went by. Anyways, he would buy new gladiators from slave auctions, frag them until they literally broke, and then give them a _ton_ of steroids before sending them into the Pits. Wouldn't surprise me if they were given boosters before the war.”

“How can you think the pits a good thing Jazz!? This is the kind of stuff that we were fighting for.” Ironhide threw his servos at the screen. Jazz crossed his arms with a frown and that only angered the red mech more. “How can you defend those mechs Jazz? They have done nothing but kill, abuse, and rape each other!”

“Oh, and Iacon isn't the same!? Or what about Helix huh!? The old council was willing to turn a blind optic to killings of new sparks! Praxus is rated the number one city for drug usage, Iacon is third for rape, and don't get me started on Velocity!” Jazz jumped onto his peds. “You guys don't get it at all! You're only one body of people, but you're fighting for something that you don't understand! If you actually wanted to make a difference then show it, give someone from _their_ court a chance to talk.”

Jazz turned on his heel and retreated to his room with the door locking behind him. He paced his room with low revs of his engines. _Ha, as if they would start listening to them._ The mech stopped his pacing when he saw a small box sitting at the head of his berth. Cautiously Jazz went over to it and picked it up, inside was half of his collection of earth music he had collected over his time on Earth. With the various music was a datapad with a servo written note.

_Jazz,_

_I heard that you talked to Rico while you were aware, and I thought that maybe it was best these returned to their rightful owner. I hope that I get to see you soon, but I understand if you wish to start a new life without us._

_Skids_

The Polyhexian sat on the edge of his berth with a servo going to his face with a shaky frustrated ex-vent. He was busy with almost swapping paint with Prowl and then yelling at Ironhide that he missed his chance to talk to Skids. Jazz collapsed with his arms going above his helm. “Why do I have to be so annoying?”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Council and a few others finally find out the truth about the twins and Jazz.

Ch. 24

Jazz was nervously shifting his weight as he stood beside Optimus and Elita-One. This had been the second party he had been too, and he never felt more nervous in his entire life. Optimus told him that it was nothing important, except that it was! _How is having a sparkling not important?_ He saw how a lot of his old teammates were there, and over time he had been given chances to talk to them and ask for forgiveness. Some were willing right off the bat while others were more on the ‘let's see day by day'. Tonight, was also the day before he would go into his spark transfer.

Ratchet told him that it would take about twenty solar cycles for his new protoform to fully develop, and they would copy all of the memories they could onto a new memory chip. Jazz had been nervous leading up to the big day, and all he could think about were the twins. The ones that believed into him from the start.

“Jazz, you look like you're ready to explode. Why don't you go get some high grade and relax?” Elita suggested.

“No thanks, I'm just nervous about the transfer. I don't want to forget but at the same time I don't want to be like… this.” Jazz tried to smile through it, but the two could clearly see it was an act.

::Ricochet just walked in with Skids right behind him.:: Hot Rod said through the Councilor comm channel.

There was a collection of childish screams which caught everyone's attention. All optics followed a swarm of younglings attack the Kaon Lord and his brother. Skids was hugging all of them with a look of pure joy on his face while his brother was just subtly smiling. Ops were sticking close to the gathering, using the hidden microphones that they had put on everyone as they walked past one of them.

“Skids, Ricochet you're really here! Carrier said you were coming. Are you going to bring our Sire home?” One of the younglings asked as they were all removed from the twins.

“We're working on it. He's living in King Cog's home, and it's really hard to get in there. But don't worry your Sire will be returned to you soon.” Skids said as cheerfully as possible.

“Ricochet, thank you so much for reuniting me with my sparklings. We couldn't have done it without you. Kaon needs more mechs like you.” The femme said with absolute gratefulness in her words.

“Well with Tyger Pax and Vos actually thinking about backing me and the others, then we actually have a real chance at finally being free.” Ricochet had a bit more excitement in his words before it got serious. “Now it’s a matter of getting this council to listen to me.”

A mech put a servo on both Skids and Ricochet’s shoulders with a big smile on his face. “Ricochet, if you can convince Tyger Pax leadership to follow your lead then you can do it here. We all believe in you. You’ve brought hope back into me and everyone that you freed. My sons and daughters have a chance of going to school, getting good jobs, finding real love. You both are _our beacon of hope._ ”

“Oh Turbo, stop with the flattering. We only did what’s right, what everyone deserve.” Skids waved his servo dismissively before Seekerlets attacked his legs. “Why do sparklings have to be so adorable? I could just hug you all if I had the arms.”

“I really hate to cut this meeting short, but I do have to ‘seek council’ with the Prime, King Cog is really trying me.” Ricochet bowed to the group while his brother carefully removed all of the sparklings. Optimus pinged for Bumblebee to take Jazz to a different party of the party room, and then Mirage and Hound to join him to make it seem like they were engaged in conversation. It was all part of the plan, just long enough until Prowl and his brothers arrived to properly distract Jazz. The Noble and his mate each had a glass of energon in their servos and pretended to talk to the two council members until a cough behind them got their attention.

Ricochet was buffed to a shine, his gold visors hid his optics, he had a gold band secured around his left bicep, and Kaon’s sigil was painted in the center of his chest. Skids had Praxus wing charms dangling from the corners of his wings, a sigil for Praxus painted on the right side of his chest plate, and a big smile on his face. The two folded their left arms across their chests and bowed their helms before standing straight. Skids gestured at his brother with a flick of his wings.

“Lord Mirage, Autobot Hound, Councilor Optimus Prime, and Conjux Elita-One may I present Lord Ricochet of Kaon. Here on behalf of his… _esteemed_ highness King Cog.” Skids felt like he had to purge every time he had to do introductions. _I hate this._

 _I know, but it has to be done. The goons are standing in the corner near the east hallway watching._ Ricochet put on his Lord act with a proud smile. “A pleasure to be in your home. It brings a smile to my face to see that those we have helped are being treated so kindly. And I believe congratulations are in order for the sparking.”

“You certainly put up a decent act of being a Lord, _Lord_ Ricochet.” Mirage called him out before sipping his energon. Skids looked at his brother before speaking in Tarn and Ricochet responded with a nod of his helm.

“Just like your mate I suppose. I certainly hope your defenses have improved _Lord Mirage_. I came only on business before returning to my city and dealing with real problems. Councilors, I came here on behalf of the unrepresented city-states to ask for your support in helping those that wish to see the end of slavery in Kaon and her sister cities. We already have the Vos Monarch as well as Tyger Pax president willing to side with us if the Iacon council is willing to listen to _our_ voices.” Ricochet kept his attitude firm, his field was confident, and his posture matched his field. “I know there has been… ill feelings towards my city and those allied with them, but just like you I want to see freedom for all of Cybertron. But Optimus, I believe that you forgotten that part of yourself after the war ended. You freed your people, but what about those that scream into the nights as their loved ones die or their sparklings ripped from their arms? Do _they_ not deserve those same rights?”

Optimus looked at his mate and friends before looking at the young mech once again. “I’ve heard those same words from a mech who wanted freedom, but he quickly became consumed by power.”

Ricochet forced a laugh out; he knew it was too good to be true. _This mech is never going to listen or actually be any help. Why did Tarn think Optimus is different from his predecessors?_ The Polyhexian pointed a digit at the taller mech, “I am _nothing_ like Megatron in the slightest. You’ve seen my operation, you’ve snooped around in my files in Kaon’s databanks, you know I gave Jazz his insignia, and I know your little spies have been tailing my brother around when he leaves the bounds of Kaon. If I was anything like that disgrace Megatron, then I would not come here asking… pleading for your help.”

Before any of the four could respond, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker walked over with cubes of highgrade. They threw their arms over the Polyhexian’s shoulder, both a bit tipsy, “hey there’s the big mech him…self. How are th-those Seekers after we… kicked their afts?” Sideswipe asked before Sunstreaker cheered in agreement and they clinked their cubes together. “O.P ya… ya shoulda be there! I was like boom and Sunny was like… like… yeah.”

“How many cubes did you have, Primus even Sunstreaker is happy?” Hound asked while the two were giggling messes.

“I ain’t happy! I’m celebrating.” Sunstreaker tried to glare, but he wasn’t able to keep a straight face for long.

Ricochet sighed as he pinched his nasal ridge. “I am making you two work twice as hard tomorrow. And they are currently being repaired by Data and then isolation, they were doped up.”

“I thought that stuff was banned?” Sunstreaker sobered up quickly as he growled and clenched his fists tightly. The Autobots could see that it was a topic that the yellow mech was passionate about, and not in a good way.

“Doesn’t stop those that wish to cheat their way to the top. Speaking of the Pits, we need to discuss your contracts. Though it will be at a later date when you are not so inebriated.” _Where is Skids, he should have been back by now._ He looked around for his brother, he started getting worried when he couldn’t see his brother’s Praxian wings. “Excuse me, I need to find my brother.”

Jazz hadn't seen Prowl when Bumblebee took him off to a table that was covered in treats and highgrade. He was enjoying himself and laughing with the scout and a few of the Autobots that actually braved over to the two. The Polyhexian had his back turned to the rest of the party that he didn’t notice a certain black and white Praxian walking up behind him. “No way in Pits would I ever be caught dead consuming that slag you call high grade Cliffjumper. I can _guarantee_ that the stuff I make can make you so overcharged that you can’t get out of the berth for three solar cycles.”

“Now Jazz, I certainly hope that you don’t actually give Cliffjumper highgrade that strong.” The visored mech jumped with a small shout and turned around before instantly smiling. Jazz jumped into his arm with a big smile on his face, Prowl hugged him back and lowered him to the ground.

“Maybe I will if it makes you that upset.” He chuckled behind his servo and rubbed the tip of ped rubbed into the floor. The others that had been chatting with Jazz just moments saw the sudden change in the mech. Some left with exaggerated groans of the chrono-puppy love and others _just had_ to stay and see how this would play out. The Polyhexian instantly remembered why he was excited to see the Praxian. He opened his subspace and pulled out a small blue box with Prowl’s sigil scrawled on the center of it. “I told you I’d have them ready.”

Prowl’s wing tips flicked as he accepted the gift with a very small smile. “Thank you Jazz, perhaps we could take these outside for a walk?” The Polyhexian looked at Bumblebee and then set his glass of energon on the table with his servo going into Prowl’s servo. The yellow scout watched how his ex-commander was almost literally tripping over his peds following the enforcer through the crowd. Jazz locked optics with Prowl as his attention was all on the mech that had been the focus of his dreams. “How was your cycle? Is work treating you better than before?”

The visored mech looked up at the mech that was leading them outside, past where Blaster was stationed at, both were unaware of the optics following them. “Optimus told you huh? It’s been okay I guess, still get a few glares here and there. My cycle was good, especially now when I get to see you try something.” Jazz snickered before opening the box to show off nearly a dozen yellow frosty cubes that sat inside. The Polyhexian took one out and offered it to the Praxian when they stopped at the bottom of the stairs that led to the backyard.

“He was worried and told me about all of emails you got. I wish you had told someone about this.” Prowl showed his disappointment in Jazz’s choice before taking the cube from the black servo gently with his mouth. Jazz’s engines stalled for a moment before he returned to the land of consciousness. The mech chuckled and took one of the gel cubes, and offered it to the visored mech. The Polyhexian heated up as he gently took it. “You could make a small business from these. I believe this could be considered cliché or cheesy, according to the humans, but I would be a regular if I get to eat these.”

Jazz heated up and turned his face away with an embarrassed chuckle. “You’re just saying that. They aren’t _that_ good. Prowl, I wanted to tell you that I’ve had a lot of fun these past few deca-cycles and I’m glad I was given a chance to be somewhat the real me I believe I’m meant to be. And you are the most important mech in my life, I couldn’t live without you, and I hope that after tomorrow you’ll give me a third chance?”

 _A third chance? Oh, right he’s going in for his spark transfer._ The Praxian closed the box of treats and subspaced them before taking both of the black servos that were inevitably shaking nervously. “I’m still no good at the romantic talk, but I will one hundred percent give you a third chance. You are, after all my seventy percent, and I can’t function without you.” Prowl gently pulled Jazz close to his frame and lowered to give the Polyhexian a kiss. _Now is your chance Prowl, I’ve already calculated a 99.87% chance that I will have a positive reaction by kissing Jazz on the lips._

Their lips were just barely touching before someone interrupted the moment. “Hey Pro-” The two quickly pulled apart as if two teens got caught by their creators. Prowl looked up and saw that Bluestreak was the culprit at the interruption. “I’m so sorry, uh… I’ll just um… yeah, sorry.”

 _99.87% without interruptions_. Prowl internally growled before looking over at the Polyhexian that was rubbing the back of his horn. _He’s scared once again, thanks Bluestreak._ He gently touched his elbow and the mech jumped before looking up at Prowl. “Perhaps after your spark transfer, I’ll have a better chance at kissing you with minimal interruptions.”

“Y-Yeah. Could you maybe come and see me? I know there is little chance I’ll remember, but I want you to be the first thing I online to.” Jazz smiled shyly and hugged himself as he leaned against the white and black frame. His mood changed to fear as he leaned against the mech for comfort. “I… Prowl, I’m scared. No, terrified of doing the transfer. I’m not backing out or anything, but what if I forget everything? What if I remember only the things before the war?”

“I know it’s scary to not know, but if you would like to know there is a twenty percent chance that you only remember that far back. If you somehow do forget everything, I will be there for you no matter what.” Saying that comforted the nervous mech, and in all honesty it comforted the Praxian as well. They stood at the bottom of the steps with their arms around each other. Neither were in the mood to kiss now, but just hugging each other was enough.

“Okay Jazz, just to make sure you completely understand it will hurt only for a moment. It will feel like you only went into stasis for a few moments when in reality it will have been roughly five solar cycles. All of your systems will reboot slowly once energon enters your new protoform. Common side effects after a spark transfer are nausea, confusion, memory loss, pain, and in some cases dizziness. Before the surgery we’re going to copy all of your memory files to a new memory chip that will be inserted after we pull you from the tank. We’ll also cut a small piece of your original protoform to give your spark something to use as a source. After you online, we’ll ask you a few basic questions to see how much you remember, we’ll have you stay here for roughly fifteen solar cycles to ensure you are fit enough to hold your body weight, after that you’ll be stay with Ironhide and go through physical therapy as well as visiting Bluestreak.” Ratchet explained to the Polyhexian that was sitting in an empty hospital berth. He had a datapad in his servos before holding it out for him. “And Sunstreaker will also be delivering your new armor pieces once you are reaching the ending of your growth. We won’t pull you out until you are roughly around your current age, just so your spark doesn’t have the stress of being inside of a younger frame.”

“What about language? If there’s a chance I do forget everything, then won’t I forget the basics? What about my sight?” Jazz looked up at the head medic, he knew that it was a long shot, but he wanted to have a fighting chance of seeing without his visors.

“If that does happen then I will download the Polyhexian language pack, that way one of our Polyhexian staff can communicate with you. I can do a CNA test on your coding, but there won’t be much I can do until after your transfer.” Ratchet tried to comfort his friend the best he could. “Don’t worry Jazz, First Aid and I will be the two head medics involved in your transfer. And your CR tank will be placed in here under heavy lockdown, just in case anyone get curious. Only ones allowed in are those that you put in your visiting list.”

Jazz nodded as he looked down at the datapad and took a deep intake. He signed it off and handed it to the medic. First Aid gave the Polyhexian a supportive smile of his optics before picking up the anesthesia. “Administering anesthesia. Anesthesia delivered. Good luck Jazz.” The Polyhexian laid back and watched everything slowly become fuzzy until nothing.

Ratchet picked up his small light as he deactivated the visors, he checked the optics before looking at his assistant. “Wait five more kliks for it to fully set. Make a three-inch diameter cut on the thigh and then place it in the CR tank. I’ll let the groupies know to go home now. And if his spark levels increase don’t worry, it’s only Blaster breaking the bond with Jazz.”

“Got it Ratchet.” First Aid said cheerfully. He started taking down notes while waiting for the time to be up.

Ratchet went out to the waiting room where he nearly stumbled when he noticed how many bots showed up. “Well I don’t know how to feel about this. What happened to only a few bots at a time? Did the entire team show up?” The medic saw how all the seats were full, the windowsills had bots sitting in them, floor was consumed by frames, and mechs even lined the walls.

“The Dinos, Metro, and Omega sent their condolences.” Mirage said from the wall. He looked at the others before looking at the medic. “Jazz is one of us, whether he wants to admit it or not. Once an Autobot always an Autobot.”

There was a collection of agreements, the hardened medic had to actually smile at the thoughtful gesture. _If only you were here to see this._ Ratchet knew Jazz had a hard time accepting that the others were forgiving him, even if they actually said they did, but he knew if he saw how all of the team gathered to show their support then Jazz would’ve finally understood. “Okay well as sweet as this is, you’re all taking up way too much space, and he only gave permission to a select few. Now get out of my hospital or I’ll have to get my throwing wrench.”

::Jazz is ready for the transfer. I removed his memory chip; did he say if he wanted anyone to view it?:: First Aid commed if after ten kliks of escorting Autobots out. The only ones allowed to stay were Optimus, Ironhide, Blaster, Bluestreak, Smokescreen, Ops, and Prowl.

::He gave us the okay, but Optimus and Prowl are currently observing the interrogation with Skids and Ricochet. I’ll just let them know or one of the others will:: Ratchet said before looking at the mechs that were sitting for just today. “Blaster, whenever you’re ready. I can’t proceed until you severed it.”

“Ah know, gimme a sec. It’s a new thing for meh. Ah’ve never broken a bond with anybot, not even with my Cassettes.” Blaster leaned forward with his helm resting in his servos. He could feel Jazz still in his mind and spark, just waiting for him. The Host knew it was for the best and that it wasn’t going to be forever, but it still hurt a lot. His symbionts hugged their Carrier for comfort as the mech slowly closed all of the doors that connected his real creations with the false one. He felt the spike of fear, but he had to ignore it and keep going, mentally suffocating the bond. There was a moment of silence until Blaster started crying, his Host coding went haywire at the loss of the bond. “It’s done.”

Ratchet put a servo on his shoulder to give him a bit of comfort. “You did the right thing Blaster.”

“Ah… Ah know, still hurts.” He said softly.

Solar cycles dragged on, everyone either visited the growing protoform to talk about memories or to talk about their day. Prowl was a more frequent visitor just to sit and calm his glitch, playing the song they shared all those years ago. Bluestreak visited just to have the chance to see a mech grow in his very optics. Ironhide non-stop talked about Jazz’s creators. Smokescreen went on about his bonding ceremony that was getting closer. Optimus turned to his unresponsive friend for guidance on what to do in his time of need. Blaster would play music in hopes of some sort of reaction. Ops always came together and would simply nap in the room, waiting for their old commander to bounce back. It was getting closer to the end of the growth, and everyone gathered in the viewing room with the Prime and Prowl being the exceptions.

“Okay, there is no guarantee that Jazz will remember all of these memories, but he entrusted us with them. Let’s begin.” Ratchet said as the lights turned off and Jazz’s memories played from chronological order like a movie. Until it stopped with a large door with the Autobot insignia engraved on it, the failsafe was there, and he smiled before nodding his thanks. He disappeared as the doors opened to reveal the locked up memories.

_Jazz was thrown onto Soundwave’s berth, “M-Master you’re overcharged. Please, don’t do this. You’re scaring me.” He whimpered as the blue mech drunkenly climbed on top of him._

_“Are you telling me what to do pet?” Soundwave smacked him across the face before attacking his mouth with an aggressive kiss. The Polyhexian was crying while Soundwave threw back the rest of his cube. His servo went around his neck and squeezed lightly. “As… punishment, time to go into heat and be the n-needy little pet you are! And you are going to be… be so full of my overload you’ll be unable to move.”_

_The Polyhexian tried to fight his drunken master, but even in his current state Soundwave was stronger if only by a little. “I can’t go into heat, I’ll get sparked. Please I-I’ll do anything, Soundwave I’m begging you to stop. You’re acting like your Carrier!”_

_The room echoed with a harsh smack and Jazz’s vision glitched. Soundwave was enraged and that only encouraged him to get straight to the point. He removed the blockers Ratchet had put in his pet, forcefully pushed the valve plating to the side, and rammed his spike into his screaming pet. The blue mech silenced his screams with kisses, all the while Jazz stopped moving as he cried hard with each thrust. The Polyhexian continued to mentally beg for Soundwave to stop, but his begging was answered with a growl. “Now you wouldn’t be in this position if you didn’t mention my pleasure bot of a Carrier. You have no right to use my name so casual, you are not my conjux. Now, you want me to take the pain away don’t you pet?” Jazz nodded as his engines hitched. “Then you know what to do, turn your heat protocols and frag me until we’ve overload into a crash.”_

_Seven groons, seven straight groons of interfacing with Soundwave until Jazz was thrown to the ground. He went to turn it off, but he was blocked from his own systems. The Polyhexian limped to the washracks and cleaned himself the best he could to close his valve after deeply cleaning it. Jazz looked into the mirror and saw all the dents and markings on his face, and he covered his mouth as he broke down. “If you’re going to be such a glitch about a little smack then leave!” Soundwave’s voice called out tiredly._

_Jazz had to force himself to be silent just a bit longer until he could move. Once able to feel his lower half, Jazz drove himself back to the ARK until stumbling into base. A pair of servos caught him, and Jazz recoiled away from the contact. “Jazz, what happened? You were gone all night. Were you… did someone beat you up?” Prowl’s concerned voice was enough to bring the Polyhexian’s heat protocols to life once again. He pressed his beaten frame against the Praxian’s and kissed him firmly. They pulled apart despite the whine from the visored mech. “Jazz, what happened?”_

_“Don’t worry ‘bout it. Need ya Prowler, please. Ah want tah feel yer spike so far in my valve dat it’s pressin’ against my tanks.” Jazz purred enticingly and went back to kissing his lover. Prowl pulled away once again to look with absolute concern, obviously not in the mood. “Ah just took a lil’ tumble on dah way back. Now, please Prowler, Ah’ll even let ya play with my spark.”_

_“Tomorrow you see Ratchet.” Prowl said firmly and Jazz nodded in quick agreement before the lovers went to Jazz’s quarters. The two made passionate love, they never pulled apart to avoid any lubricant getting into Jazz’s valve. After a few overloads, Prowl and Jazz merged their sparks together just momentarily to send the other into a crash. It wasn’t enough to create a bond, but it was enough to create a spark of electricity between them._

_It was nearly a month later when Jazz felt odd. He rubbed his chest and went to his quarters to figure out what was wrong with him. “It’s just like with my false sp- no, no, no.” Jazz rushed to his washracks and opened his chest plates to see a small spark attached to his own, and the saboteur pressed his back against the opposite wall as he looked down at the exposed spark. “No, no, no this can’t be happening. Not again. I-I-I need to tell Ratchet… no what am I saying, if he finds out so will Soundwave. I can’t let Soundwave find out.”_

_The Polyhexian tried to continue acting as normal, but it did become gradually harder to hide his cravings or his increasing Carrier programing. He had to focus all of his mental strength to block Blaster and Soundwave from the growing spark inside him. He needed a medic’s help, but he needed to get away as far as possible and that’s how it led him here. In the remains of the Iacon hospital looking for a medic drone. “Come on, come one, come on Primus please just one drone. I just want to find a decent drone.” Jazz had slinked around the tight spaces and maneuvered through the rubble. He pressed his back against a grimy wall with his helm going into his servo to cry._

_The visored mech slowly stopped crying to slowly look up to a chrome cobalt medical drone that was laying across an overturned gurney, and when Jazz got closer he started laughing in relief to see how intact he looked. “Yes, yes this’ll do. Come on, it’s time to wake you up. You’re no Ratchet, but you’ll probably have better berth side manners.” The black and white mech lifted the drone into one arm and fixed the gurney before laying him on it. He pushed it through the hall until coming across a family waiting room. He felt the tiny spark in his chest pulse to show its creator it was still functioning. “That’s right little star, Carrier isn’t going to lose you. I will make sure of it.”_

_It took a couple months of scavenging and slipping questions to Wheeljack to know how to fix the drone. Jazz leaned against the gurney with heavy vents, and felt his systems drain faster now that the spark felt like it was getting bigger. The mech turned the drone on and waited a few minutes._

_“What's your name drone? Anything broken?” Jazz looked over the slowly onlining drone as he held his side with a groan. The drone sat up and looked around with confusion. “Primus, should have paid more attention to Wheeljack about drones._

_“My designation is Field Medic Data; I am a medical drone for dangerous battles where medical commanding officer Ratchet could be a high target. There are additional instructions that was not here previously. Only these features can be downloaded by the permission of an Autobot.” Data said after examining himself._

_Jazz pointed to his chest, “Autobot Second-in-command Jazz, and I give you permission to download all information from the data burst. I need you to help me with my current situation.”_

_Data was silent for a moment before moving again. He climbed off the slab of metal that Jazz had him on. “I will see what I can do, Master Jazz.” The Polyhexian looked genuinely shock before groaning and face palmed._

_“Great spreading the slagging coding around. Data, erase that strand of coding. I just need you to have the Carrier coding.” Jazz ordered as he vented hard, leaning against the wall for support._

_“If I erase the compliance coding, then it will erase the Carrier coding. I will work for an alternative, in the time being your wellbeing is my concern.” Data made his way over to Jazz and lifted him in his arms despite having been in stasis for millions of years. “I will get started on an expandable plate. I will also get this place in order while you rest.” Data informed before getting to examining his patient._

_Together, Jazz and Data, cleaned up the family waiting area as well sterilized one of the small delivery rooms for when the sparkling arrived. Jazz had removed the tight fitting metal from around his mid-section with a big sigh of relief. Data, who had been going over medical supplies, went over to his patient. “We will need energon for you and the sparkling, once it arrives. As well as power for me to be able to see what I am doing, Ma- Jazz.”_

_“Y-Yeah give me a klik. Primus, carrying is so tiring. How much longer do you think until this little bugger is ready to emerge?” Jazz asked in between pants. “Do you know who the Sire is?”_

_“From what you said, it could be either of the two mechs, though in terms of events it will have most likely be sired by Decepticon Soundwave.” Data said honestly as he went over to the bag that Jazz had carried in with him. He looked through it with a thoughtful hum until he produced an energon cube. “Drink this, what is your tank levels at?”_

_“Twenty. Thanks. Feel like I pulled a Prowl without doing anything.” Jazz drank the energon slowly before dropping the empty cube. He shifted with a groan and then looked at Data. “Hey D, did the Carrier coding change you physically or just coding?”_

_The cobalt drone rose to his peds with a slight tilt of his helm before standing back straight. “You are asking if I am able to produce energon for sparklings? Unfortunately, I am not. All I can do is grant the sparkling comfort as a Carrier would.” His digits glowed a medium green as he ran them around the growing mid-section. “Oh! Well this is a surprise.”_

_Jazz sat up straight in full Carrier panic mode. “What? Is there something wrong with my sparkling?”_

_“Oh, no not at all. I simply was not expecting this result.” Data’s optics showed a holographic ultrasound of the oil sac that held not one but two sparklings with one energy line connecting them to their Carrier. “Congratulations Jazz, you are with split spark twins.” The visored mech stared at the hologram as he tried to comprehend what was just said. His processor did a quick reboot when it glitched briefly._

_“T-Twins!? Primus help me. Frag, frag, frag! I barely know what I’m doing now, and now I’m having twins?” Jazz didn’t know how to feel except cry for a moment before throwing his empty cube beside him at the wall in front of him._

_Jazz barely managed to get into the hospital before he screamed in pain. The pain had been very mild that he assumed it was just the twins moving around, but then the pain increased mid-day and Jazz made the executive decision to leave for Cybertron. He was not going to have his sparklings in a battle zone. Data must have heard his loud screams because he ran up to the Carrier that was doubled over in the hall. “We need to get you in the delivery room. Are you sure you want to be put under? It will increase the chance of you not making it, I’m only one drone Jazz.”_

_“I’m sure Data! I can’t have Soundwave getting in my helm when I’m fragging pushing out two sparklings! I tru- Ahh!” He held his side as he screamed harder. Data lifted him into his arms and carefully sprinted him to the delivery room. He had everything prepared for their arrival. “And whatever you do, d-aaah! D-Don’t do a Ca-Carrier bond.”_

_The medic drone looked at him with wide optics, “But Jazz.” He saw the serious expression and he just silently obeyed the request. “As your medic, I do not agree with it.” Jazz was laid in the berth just as a gush of oil fell from his exposed valve. Data didn’t say anything as he administered the anesthesia. When Jazz onlined again, he heard two tiny cries and he cried with a huge smile on his face. “Congratulations Jazz, you have two perfectly healthy twin mechlings. And I believe Primus also smiled upon you.”_

_Jazz was introduced to a tiny black and white Polyhexian mechling that was wrapped up in a thermal blanket. He started crying even harder with a smile on his face, “shh… shh little one Carrier is here.” The mechling stopped his squirming and banshee crying in order to see his Carrier. Jazz saw the signature red optics staring up at him, and for a moment he was scared, and the sparkling started crying again. And the Carrier snapped out of his ridiculous fear. “Oh, no it’s okay my little star. Carrier is here, shh it’s okay I’m here.”_

_“What’s his name Ma- Jazz.” Data asked as he cradled the other bundle to which Jazz noticed was being held at an odd angle. Data chuckled at his concern, “you will see in a moment.”_

_The Polyhexian nodded before looking down at the staring mechling in his arms. He knew that despite who is Sire was, this little mechling was going to be his everything. His new life, something… no someone he has a reason to fight. His rebound to another chance of living the way he was meant to. “Ricochet… No… Ricochet Meister. My little Rico.” The black and white mechling smiled and giggled as his Carrier held him tightly to his frame. Data switched the sparklings, instructing Jazz to be extremely careful. Jazz saw a pure blue sparkling that slowly opened his blue optics and gave happy chirps the second he saw his Carrier._

_Jazz felt something move against his servo and it wasn’t the sparkling. He lifted him up slowly as he pulled the blanket away to see a pair of tiny winglets twitching suddenly from the cool air. His optics widened and he shot his helm up at his friend who nodded in confirmation. “You spoke of how close the two merges were, it’s a rare case outside of trines but you had a triad relationship of sorts. Ricochet Meister is sired by Decepticon Soundwave with minor traces of Praxian or Host coding, almost a pure Polyhexian-Tarn. but this mechling is sired by Autobot Prowl with no traces of Tarn or Host coding, pure Praxian-Polyhexian. I had to buff out a couple skid marks from Prowl’s son, some time before their sparking Ricochet Meister left marks on his twin.”_

_The Polyhexian chuckled and wrapped his other son back up in the blanket, minding the winglets. He knew Prowl carried blue because his younger brothers were both predominately blue, and Jazz had blue on his frame as well. He looked at the staring mechling in thought of a name, before lifting him to press their helms together. “Skids. My precious Skids. Data, let me see Ricochet. I want to hold both of my sons.” Jazz was handed the other sparkling and he hugged them both close to his chest before looking up at the ceiling with a happy smile. “Merry Christmas Prowler.”_

_Everyone on the ARK was getting suspicious, Jazz knew it, but the Carrier didn’t care he needed to get this stuff back to the hospital. It’s not like anyone was going to use any of the slag, especially the scraps of metal that were declared ‘useless’ after Wheeljack touched them. He also was gathering as much intel on Praxian sparklings from the resident Praxians. “Hey Blue, so Ah got an odd question. It’s about Praxians, and Ah know Prowler will just dig way too deep into it.”_

_The steel blue Praxian sat up straight with the datapad going down on the table that separated him. His wings flicked as he smiled, “sure Jazz wassup?”_

_“How are Praxians cared for differently than say a Polyhexian sparklin’?” Jazz mentally face palmed at how more obvious the question was._

_Bluestreak stared at Jazz with a bit of confusion before he went back to smiling, clearly paying no mind to it. “Well for about a deca-cycle our wings are fragging sensitive, like hover a digit over the panel and they react. Carrier told me that a sparkling’s wings are so malleable that she would have to take a stylus and carefully push any dents out. We also learn how to talk with our wings, so to speak, when he reach our second stage sparkling phase. Thinking about starting a family after the war? Now I see why you didn’t want to go to Prowl, would’ve blown him into a whole speech. Usually after a Praxian is old enough to actually speak Praxian they’re integrated into our family circle, which is the family in its entirety.”_

_Jazz had to laugh and play along while internally crying at how much of a disadvantage Skids already had. “Yeah, Ah would like tah avoid dat conversation for a while. Ah just figured… ya know if all goes tah plan with ya know endin’ dah war, Prowler and Ah could ya know… maybe have one.”_

_“Well you have my full support and I know Smokey would absolutely love to have nieces and nephews. Can’t have a circle with three mechs.” The Praxian laughed and Jazz laughed along with. He bid a farewell before getting an idea, he may not have wings, but he had something else and he was going to teach Ricochet and Skids how he first saw the world._

_The Carrier pushed the door jamb back in place while wiping off the sand that came from the heavy rust storm that was going on outside. He had a two large bags in his servos and he went to the family room where Data was gently pushing the gurney that was acting as a temporary crib. “After the storm passes, were moving to Kaon. I got a better place to hide and it’s sealed off.”_

_“I think we should wait until they are able to comprehend words.” Data suggested while Jazz wiped himself clean. They looked through the duffle bags and the drone pulled out the clear tube with a smile. He went over to a machine that he had been trying to put together and finally felt as if he finished. “All done. This should solve your fuel pouch problems M-Jazz.”_

_The Polyhexian walked over to it and poked it with uncertainty, “and you’re sure it isn’t going to blow up? I did get this stuff from the base’s resident explosive expert.”_

_“I am, they just fueled from the diluted energon I used from the cubes you brought us last time. Just connect this tube to your fuel nozzles and the machine will pump the reserves out and into the bottles I managed to find in the sparkling ward.” Data explained to the Carrier while observing him rub his chest with extreme discomfort. Jazz gave up and did what the drone told him, he felt instant relief when the pain was gone. “Seven bottles! Impressive, this should last a few groons.”_

_Skids started whimpering that soon turned into a cry, Jazz practically zoomed to the sparklings to see what caused his son to online. When the blue Praxian saw his Carrier he started giggling, flapping his little winglets unknowingly. “You are just the cutest thing ever. Your Sire would have loved meeting you.” The visored mech gently stroked the length of Skids’s wings, getting him to squirm and giggle, accidently onlining his brother. Ricochet flared his limbs with tears lining the rims of his optics. Jazz lifted him up in his arms and wiped them away, “it’s okay little Rico, Carrier’s here.” When his Carrier said his nickname, Ricochet giggled and blew a raspberry._

_“I will get the rest of this stuff cleaned up. I advise refueling and then recharging.” Data said and he was answered with a thank you. Jazz picked Skids up and the twins laid their helms on the respective shoulder in front of them. He started humming a tune to them as he swayed to the little tune._

_A bit of time had pass, and the twins were third stage sparklings. Ricochet waddled to his Carrier’s side and looked up at Jazz with a frown and a pair of big red optics. “Co, what’s wrong?” He sat a box down before kneeling in front of him._

_“Chu scared of Co. I sowwy for be scary, is dat why chu weave? I pomise I not be scary no moe.” He started getting upset and rubbed his optics. Jazz was quick to pull him into his arms. The small Polyhexian broke down into bawling his optics as he held his Carrier tightly._

_“I’m not scared of you Co. I can never be afraid of you, and you have nothing to apologize for. I leave because I have friends that will get worried if I’m gone too long, and they wouldn’t understand you or your brother that’s why you both stay here with Data.” Jazz sat on the ground with a smile on his face before pulling him into his lap. “Co, I want you to make me a promise okay? Never use your gifts to hurt others. I know hearing Carrier’s thoughts may be fun, but Carrier has some things that are for adults only, okay?”_

_The youngling sniffled with a nod before putting his tiny servo on the Autobot insignia with a smile on his face. “When I big and stwong, I be just like chu! Skids wants to too, but he too scared to say! Can chu weed us stowy before chu go away?”_

_Jazz chuckled as he rose to his peds, “’Course I will Co.”_

_The Polyhexian was glad that his sweet little Ricochet only got Soundwave's optics and telepathy. Everything else the little mechling got from him, and Jazz was all smiles about that. “Where is your brother at? It’s bath time.”_

_“Yay! He’s wif Dada by dah naughty door.” Ricochet said with excitement as his Carrier picked him up. The Carrier had told them to never touch or go near the front door because bad mechs were out there that wanted to hurt them. “Who Pow?”_

_His Carrier looked down at his son and shook his helm with a chuckle, “Rico, you need to ask permission before reading someone’s thoughts. It’s rude. And Prowl is… Prowl is a very important mech in Carrier’s life.”_

_“Why Pow not come wif chu?” Ricochet was curious, something else he got from his Carrier. Jazz noticed rather quickly that both were rather bright which he could argue they got from him, but he knew it was inherited from their Sires. Jazz led them through the halls to meet up with the medic drone and his other creation._

_The visored mech sighed softly as he gave Ricochet’s helm a small kiss. “No one knows about you or your brother. That’s why you are here and why Carrier goes away.” At the front entrance was Data messing with a light while Skids was sitting on the floor watching the mech with great concentration. His tiny wings flared before he quickly turned to see his Carrier and he squealed excitedly. “There’s my precious Skids. Light went out Data?”_

_“Carrier! Uppy, uppy.” Skids bounced in front of his Carrier with his arms in the air. Jazz adjusted the sparkling in his arm before picking up the other mechling. “Wee!”_

_“I was returning from the other side of the hospital with some equipment when I saw that the light was out.” Data explained before stepping down as the flickered on. “I was able to find some toys for the twins.”_

_Jazz looked down at the quiet mechlings, they knew that when the adults were talking they had to listen. He nodded and they went to where a large bowl sat in one of the other operating rooms. They used it only to give the twins a bath, especially Skids because he often got explorative when he got curious. “I’ll have to go find some pads for them; Primus knows they’ll need it. Rico, what’s wrong?” Jazz heard the whimper from the tiny mech._

_“Too loud, no wike.” Ricochet covered his audio horns with tears falling from his face. Jazz didn't know what the sparkling was talking about and he didn't like not knowing. “Toughts too loud.”_

_The visored mech stopped dead in his tracks and sat Skids down so he could focus his entire attention on the stressed mechling. “Rico, Rico sweetie I know it hurts and probably scary, but I need you to focus on Carrier's voice. Can you do that?” The crying Polyhexian shook his helm and whimpered, Jazz needed Blaster’s help with this or at least advice. He started humming a song close to the Polyhexian’s audio horn. Ricochet gradually stopped crying, letting it fall into sniffles and whimpers. “That's it Rico, you're okay now. Carrier is going to bring you something that will help okay? But until I come back, I need you to try really hard to block out the thoughts.”_

_Ricochet nodded slowly as he rubbed his optics. “Meanie mech scary me.”_

_“Carrier will always be here to protect you from the meanie mechs. Always, even when I'm not here.” Jazz kissed his helm before picking up Skids once again. He sat them in the bowl halfway filled with water. “Skids, what's wrong? You're being really quiet.”_

_The Praxian mechling looked up with the corner of the wash rag in his mouth. “Nuffin'.” Jazz laughed and gently took it out of his mouth. “Hehe. Carrier when do we go pway outside?”_

_“I don't know Skids, outside isn't pretty. It's very dangerous out there.” Jazz admitted while wiping the small faces. “How you get about as dirty as Wheeljack is beyond me.”_

_“Weejack Carrier fwiend?” The Praxian asked while drowning one of the small blocks that had been tossed in there prior to the two being put in the tub._

_Jazz nodded, “one of them. Maybe one day you can meet all of Carrier's friends. Okay time for your wings. You have to hold very still Skids; I don't want you squirming around like last time.” He had a playful tone in his words. Skids nodded and took a deep intake before holding it in. The Polyhexian quickly, but carefully, cleaned the tiny appendages before pulling the rag away. The blue mechling released the intake before looking up happily. “Good job Skids, okay Rico you're turn.”_

_Back on Earth, Jazz was rummaging through his things before pulling out his Sire's mask. A knock on the door got his attention, Prowl was leaning against his office door frame with his arms crossed. “Well hello handsome, what brings ya here tah dis side of dah neighborhood?” Jazz asked teasingly before walking over to his lover with a kiss on the lips._

_“I came to ask if you would like to join me to watch a movie? Smokescreen is forcing me to go, but-" Prowl stopped and Jazz playfully ended his thought._

_“But ya need somethin' pretty tah look at. Ah get it, Ah'll be just dat.” Jazz kissed him again as he looked at Prowl._

_Prowl chuckled behind sealed lips; his servo touched his cheek. “You could say that. Can I ask why you brought Blacklight’s mask?”_

_Jazz looked down at it before looking back up at his lover. “Ah… Ah just was thinkin' about somethin' my Sire asked meh once.” The silence coming from the Praxian was enough to get him to continue. “He asked meh if Ah had anythin' worth fightin' for. And after landin' on Earth, bein' with ya, Ah think Ah finally understand what it's like tah fight for somethin’.”_

_“You, my brothers are something I have been fighting for.” Prowl continued to smile, and Jazz knew that Prowl would only ever smile at him like this._

_Jazz went to Blaster and threw himself into the chair across the communications officer with a lazy smile. “What's shakin' bacon? Don't know what bacon is, but Spike said it was cool so why not.” Blaster greeted his friend before they both laughed._

_“Well Ah got a question about telepaths. Let's say there's a sparklin' dat is telepathic, how do ya teach ‘em tah block out dah voices? Could a placebo work?” Jazz kept his field neutral with a hint of curiosity just to keep the mech out of his mind._

_“Sure, when Sounds and Ah were actually talkin' he used a blanket. Told meh if dah voices got too loud just hide under it, worked just long enough until Ah was old enough for him tah properly teach meh. Our Carrier wasn't exactly there tah teach meh.” Blaster remained cool and Jazz nodded before ending that conversation._

_“Thanks Blaster.” Jazz snapped his digits at his friend before going back to his usual. Gather everything he needed before sneaking back to Cybertron._

_The Carrier was greeted by one very happy third stage sparkling. “Skids, where's Rico? And you are covered in grime again! Primus son, you are going to live in that tub.”_

_Skids giggled as he pulled at the bag that hung from his Carrier's shoulder. His wings fluttered uncontrollably. “Rico is in quiet space. He had bad dream. Did you bring me presents?”_

_“If Rico is in quiet space, you have to be quiet remember? And yes, I did, come on let's go see how your brother is doing. Have you been practicing your writing?” Jazz asked as they rounded the corner._

_“Uh huh! Wanna see?” Skids hopped beside his Carrier until they spotted the Polyhexian sitting in a corner with Blacklight's mask held against his face. The Praxian calmed himself when his brother visibly flinched. He went over and crouched beside him. “Rico, Carrier brought presents. Ready to play?”_

_Ricochet looked up at their Carrier with a shake of his helm. “I saw bad mech in Carrier's helm. He hurt Carrier.”_

_Jazz forced himself to be calm as he knelt beside the stressed mech. “Rico, it's okay. Carrier is right here. Come on sweetspark, want to see what I brought from Earth?”_

_“The meanie won't hurt you anymore?” The mask lowered just enough for the red optics to peek out from behind it. Jazz shook his helm with a brave smile on his face. “I wanna see presents.”_

_“There's my big mechling. Okay, they're a bit big now, but I had these made just like Carrier's.” Jazz opened the bag to reveal a pair of yellow visors. Ricochet took it with awe in his optics as he gently took it. “Remember when you asked why I wear them? Well it's because Carrier can't see without them, but with my visors I can.”_

_“I get to be like you?” The mechling looked into his Carrier's optics with so much emotion that Jazz just couldn't help but smile._

_“Me next! Me next! Whatcha get me Carrier!?” Skids bounced excitedly. Jazz told him to settle down as he pulled out a small silver disc. He took it and looked at it with wings moving thoughtfully. “What is it?”_

_Jazz sat it on the floor and pressed the button on the side before a large hologram of Optimus Prime and his chain of command fizzled into existence. The two mechlings stared in amazement as they reached out to touch it. Skids touched the hologram of Optimus with that look of admiration. “That Skids, is Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots. Ratchet, is a medic like Data. Ironhide, he was Carrier's Sire's best friends. And that right there, that's Prowl. Your Sire Skids.”_

_“My Sire?” Skids looked at the mech that looked so serious. He looked at his Carrier with a slight tilt of the helm. “Where Rico’s Sire?”_

_“Rico's Sire is… he… Soundwave, one of the bad mechs I'm protecting you both from. You have to promise me that if you see any mechs that don't have a symbol like me, that you will run as far away as possible. They are very mean and very bad, and they will hurt you.” Jazz wasn't going to lie to them like he was lied to when he was their age._

_Ricochet looked down at his peds before throwing himself into his Carrier's frame. “I don't want to be bad like him. I want to be like you, I want to be an Autobot. I want Prowl to be my Sire.” He started crying as he held onto his frame._

_Jazz held the shaking frame tightly before the other tiny frame joined them. “I promise you Ricochet, your Sire will never get you. I will make sure he doesn't get either of you as long as I'm functioning.”_

_He was tucking the twins in per their routine. Before Jazz left Cybertron he would bathe them, make sure they were fueled, read a story or two, and then he would tuck them in. “It's time for me to go my little stars, but I promise to bring back some fun things from Earth.” Jazz said softly as he sat on the edge of what looked like a makeshift berth. He leaned over who he was talking to and hugged them with love. “Remember what I said?”_

_“Uhuh. We are millions of light years away, but we can still find each other at the big blue star. When do we get to meet Sire?” Skids looked up with his big blue optics._

_There was a bit of sadness from Jazz as he looked like he was in pain from thinking about it. “We don't get to do we?” Ricochet frowned as he held onto his tiny auditory horn._

_“Co, what did I say about reading my mind without my permission? And you will get to meet Prowl, you just might be older. It depends on what the new Council says about me.” Jazz went to stand up, but Ricochet jumped up with a fist in the air._

_“Then I will tell ‘em that if they don't give you back that they're a bunch of meanies. And Skids and I will throw big tantrums if they don’t let us meet Sire!” His excitement got the mech beside him to jump up and copy his stance. “We're gonna be better Autobots than all of ‘em!”_

_“Yeah!” The other said with even more excitement._

_Jazz started laughing as he laid them back down. “Oh yeah? Better than all of us? Even Optimus?”_

_“Better than… better than Ratchet!” The Praxian threw his tiny arms in the air._

_“Wow, that takes a lot of strength to be better than Ratchet. Now it's time for my little Autobots to get their recharge. Good night my loves.” He kissed their helms before turning the lights off and turned the hologram on at Ricochet's request._

_Jazz had a datapad that was connected to the one the twins used for school and just entertainment. He was trying to focus on a report but watching how Skids’s mind worked fascinated him. Ricochet really liked reading and occasionally draw his feelings. Skids loved music and was almost always trying to understand how Earth music worked. While he looked at the pad his door opened, and he quickly tossed the pad in the drawer beside him._

_“Yeah?” He tried to pretend to work, only stopping when Optimus walked in. “Prime! Somethin' on yer mind?”_

_The Prime sat down and shook his helm. “Just came to see why you're in such a good mood. Blacklight was only this level of happy when he found you again.”_

_Jazz waved the innocent comment off with a laugh. “How could ya tell dah difference? Seemed tah always be dah same no matter what.” He got a small chuckle of agreement. “Naw really just been feelin' really good for a while now. Prowler and Ah have been talkin' about our future, possibly bondin' after we kick Megatron's aft. He even wants meh tah go live in Praxus with him.”_

_“Oh, really? Well I am pleased that you have found someone you wish to spend the rest of your life with.” Optimus said completely unaware of the pop ups on Jazz's visors. It was an emergency ping from Data, saying something about the twins. He needed to get rid of Optimus somehow._

_“Hey, Ah love chattin' with ya and all, but if Ah don't get dis report done Ah'll have Prowl holdin' my jams hostage.” Jazz smirked playfully, hoping it was enough to fool his friend. He felt absolutely guilty for lying to Optimus, but he couldn't risk it. And as bad as it sounded, being on Cybertron with the twins was a way for him to forget the war and everything just for a solar cycle._

_“And we wouldn't want that, alright I'll leave you too it.” Once Optimus left, Jazz quickly replied to the ping._

_::Data, what's wrong?:: He turned his back to the camera that had been staring at him for groons._

_::Skids is getting worse and in turn affecting Ricochet. I hypothesize Skids inherited Autobot Prowl's glitch. I suggest getting here as soon as possible.:: Data had to remain calm for not only the twins but Jazz as well._

_Jazz's Carrier coding snapped into high gear and he jumped to his peds. ::Okay, I'm on my way. Just… just keep my sparklings safe, I can't lose them too.::_

_When he made it to Cybertron, he pushed his way through the barricades to where Data was checking the vitals on a rigid Skids. Jazz glued himself to the gurney, Ricochet was connected to his twin by the spark to keep his other half strong. He finally moved away when he saw his Carrier. Jazz gently cradled Skids with worry in his entire being. “Skids, Skids come on I can't lose you. Skids open your optics for Carrier.”_

_“Carrier, I'm scared. What's wrong with Skids?” Ricochet and Skids were first stage younglings and could speak much better than before. Data hushed the confused youngling as Jazz held the still Praxian._

_Skids’s optics flickered until they were bright once again. He gasped loudly for an intake before he started crying. Jazz sighed with absolute relief as he hugged his son close to his spark. “C-Carrier? You're b-back again? I-I thought you left?”_

_“Of course, I came back Skids dear. Do you know what happened? You really scared us sweetspark.” Jazz paid no attention to the question, until Skids asked a really odd one._

_“We were taking a bath after I climbed through the vents. Rico wanted to go exploring.” Jazz's face twisted in confusion and Ricochet looked also confused. He looked at his twin as if feeling it through their bond. “What?”_

_Ricochet shook his helm, “that was solar cycles ago. Don't you ‘member?”_

_Jazz looked at Data for help and the medic scanned the youngling that was confused why his Carrier and brother were being silly. “Skids seems to have experienced a ten solar cycle memory wipe. This is the first time this has happened, so it is unclear whether this is temporary or permanent. I believe that the high stress was the cause of this, I suggest a form of keeping Skids calm and grounded until he is able to control it himself.”_

_“Stress? What happened?” Jazz looked at the drone while still holding the youngling. He was trying to calm his high strained coding._

_“There were meanies walking around outside. Skids got scared and then he started shaking really weird.” Ricochet explained how a youngling would. Jazz sat Skids down before wrapping both of the younglings in the thermal blanket that was bunched up in the corner of the gurney. The smaller Polyhexian looked up at his Carrier and whispered. “Carrier a meanie is walking the halls.”_

_Once again Jazz snapped into protective mode. He dimmed the lights in the room before leaving the room silently with his blaster going into his servo. The Polyhexian wasn't going to let anyone find his home, his safe haven, or his creations. He was quick to get rid of Shockwave’s mindless drones._

_“Slaggit, I need to get them out of here. He’s going to send more drones. Data pack the bag, get whatever equipment we need, I need to get you three to Kaon!” Jazz shouted as he rushed back to them. He subspaced his blaster and was in full Autobot mode, he went to the cabinets and started pulling out the thermal blankets that were neatly folded and tucked away._

_“Carrier?” A tiny voice pulled Jazz back to reality. He turned around and saw his creations looking up at him with looks of confusion. Ricochet rose a tiny fist to his lips as he rubbed his horn with his other servo. “Why are we leaving?”_

_Skids’s wings dipped down before rising briefly, “does this mean we get to see Sire? Sire and Optimus could-”_

_“No!” Jazz never once rose his voice or let his field flare in anger and the twins backed away with whimpers. The Carrier lowered to his knees with his arms opening wide, Ricochet and Skids ran into his waiting arms. He hugged them with his helm carefully resting on their shoulders. “I’m sorry, I should not have rose my voice at either of you. But you need to understand, as much as I wish you could meet your Sire and the other Autobots, Earth is too dangerous as long as the bad bots are there. You both will be much safer in one of my friend’s home. We’re going to Kaon, okay? I want you both to stay very quiet and do exactly what Carrier says. We’re going to leave when I make sure it’s clear, okay? Stay here with Data until I say we’re ready to move. Okay?” They both nodded as they watched they’re Carrier leave._

_It took a couple of deca-cycles for Jazz to scout out a route that was easier for him to take everyone, clear out any drones that were along the way, and move all of the heavier stuff. He put his servos on his knees with his cooling fans go wild after long groons of back and forth. He looked up when he saw Skids’s small frame standing in front of him, and he put on a brave smile. “H-Hi sweet spark. You ready to head to Kaon?”_

_“Carrier, why can’t Sire know about us? Would he get mad at you like Rico’s Sire? Did my Sire hurt you too?” He started tearing up and Jazz was quick to pull him in his arms._

_“No, no, no your Sire would never hurt me or either of you. He just… you know how some times when you get really scared and then you forget? Well your Sire has something like that, but it’s when something makes him feel very emotional. If he met you before I could explain, he would start getting sick and it’s not either of your faults.” Jazz cupped his face before kissing the center of his helm until he heard a tiny giggle. Skids’s winglets went rigid and Jazz knew that Ricochet was talking to his brother. He waited until his winglets started moving again before talking, but he asked playfully. “What are you two silly mechlings talking about?”_

_Skids put his tiny servo on his Carrier’s lips and spoke very soft. “Meanie is inside.”_

_Jazz looked over his shoulder before gently pushing his creation back. “Go to Rico and hide.” He was grateful that Ricochet was telepathic, he was like an early security warning. He rose to his peds as he picked up a pipe from the floor. The Polyhexian was going to make quick work of this drone. Jazz knew they were desperate to know what was happening to all of their units, but Jazz wasn’t going to let them pass. He stood proudly with his field flared and his visors darkened._

_Shockwave stepped out of the shadows and was genuinely surprised to see the Polyhexian in the building with a pipe in his servo. “Jazz, Soundwave did not order you to Cybertron. What are you doing here?”_

_“I'm here because I want to Shockwave. Leave or I'll rip your optic out of your ugly mug!” Jazz's engines roared, all he was doing was defending his territory, wanting to protect what was behind him. He wanted to protect his sons, protect them from that monster._

_“It would seem being with those Autobots have scrambled your compliance chip. We'll just have to correct that, now won't we?” Shockwave stalked closer and Jazz took a wide swing at the mech, but he caught it and violently jerked the Polyhexian closer._

_“I am a free mech Shockwave. I will never go back to being a slave!” He brought his legs up and kicked the purple mech away. The Polyhexian back flipped away from the mech's reach. “I will see to it that my new mission is carried out until I deactivate!”_

_The cyclops mockingly laughed, “and what is this new mission little pet?”_

_“Ending this war alongside my new family.” Jazz pulled his blaster from his side and shot at the mech, striking him in several areas._

_Shockwave went to say something, but something over Jazz's shoulders caught his optic. “Well hello, this would certainly explain your attitude. Defending your home, I see, just wait until Soundwave finds out.” Something in Jazz clicked and he shouted in anger before tackling Shockwave to the ground. He started ripping his voice box out, ripping major fuel lines, and then ended with punching his graying form repeatedly in the face. The Polyhexian didn’t stop even as he felt the floor beneath the frame. Jazz started pulling out of his berserk haze and slowly stood up with heavy vents._

_“I'm okay, we're okay. We're safe. Data take Shockwave to his space bridge.” Jazz ordered before turning and looked at his energon stained arms. The Polyhexian moved off of Shockwave with heavy vent. Skids and Ricochet ran out from cover and held onto their Carrier’s frame. He hugged them as he started crying into their frames and shook hard. The Polyhexian felt as if several weights were lifted from his shoulders._

_“C-Carrier is that a meanie? Did he hurt you?” Ricochet stared at the grayed form of Shockwave before looking back at his Carrier with a frown. “What did he mean by pet?”_

_Jazz shook his helm and the two mechlings knew that it was time for their Carrier’s quiet time. Ricochet knew when it was quiet time and he started petting his Carrier’s face. The older Polyhexian felt his processor fill with thoughts of him with Prowl and the twins, happy and being a family. He knew that this didn’t come from his own thoughts, but he smiled anyways. “Thank you Rico, Carrier is okay now. As much as I am disappointed in you for using it on me without my permission.”_

_“Sorry.” The smaller Polyhexian left his processor. “Are we going to our new home?”_

_“Yes, and very soon. Let Carrier clean up first okay?” Jazz rose to his peds and led them to the tub before quickly washing the energon from his frame. Data had cleaned up the energon that was on the floor after he removed the scientist’s body. He made sure that everyone was fueled and physically able to travel. No one was going to know that Shockwave was gone until he misses a check-in. Jazz wrapped himself in a thermal blanket as he held the younglings to his frame. They weren’t used to the cold of Cybertron and were at risk of freezing faster than Jazz or Data._

_“Carrier can you sing us a song?” Skids asked from inside the temporary shelter._

_Dancing bears,_

_Painted wings,_

_Things I almost remember,_

_And a song someone sings,_

_Once upon a December._

_Someone holds me safe and warm,_

_Horses prance through a silver storm,_

_Figures dancing gracefully across my memory_

_Someone holds me safe and warm,_

_Horses prance through a silver storm,_

_Figures dancing gracefully across my memory._

_Far away,_

_Long ago,_

_Glowing dim as an ember,_

_Things my heart used to know,_

_Things it yearns to remember_

_And a song someone sings_

_Once upon a December_

_Jazz kept his voice soft, weary of the nocturnal life lurking around. He looked down in his arms after five groons of walking and saw his younglings in deep stasis while holding servos as much as they could. The Polyhexian smiled with pride, knowing that this was what his Sire would have done for him and his Carrier. “Don’t worry Sire, I won’t fail you.” He was so determined to make it to Kaon that he gave Data the thermal blanket and the twins before trekking through a sandstorm. The drone used Jazz as a shield to protect the three of them from the front. The Polyhexian was reaching low tanks, but they were so close to Halifax’s shop that he wasn’t going to stop for anything._

_::Jazz we need to stop, you are running on fumes and the twins need fuel as well.:: Data said through their comms because the wind made it impossible to hear anything._

_::We’re almost there though Data. Just a little further.:: Jazz held his arm above his helm as he took one more step forward before dropping to his knees. The drone went to the black and white mech’s side and helped him behind rubble. He pulled out a cube for Jazz and then helped the younglings fuel. “Okay, I… I think a little break will be good. But we need to move again after we’re all fueled. We’re too exposed even in this storm!” He rose his voice whenever the wind got too loud._

_“I agree! Though you really should get some recharge after we get there. I don’t require recharge like you, and you are pushing yourself and the twins.” Data gave his input before they covered their face when a gust of wind blew the red sands in their direction. Jazz knew his friend was right, but he knew their time was limited. He knew that only a few mechs knew about Halifax’s shop and only a select few of those few mechs actually knew how to get in. The Polyhexian looked at the two mechlings that were peeking out from the thermal blanket._

_“You two are being very brave, Carrier is very proud of you both. When we get to Carrier’s friend’s shop, I’ll make energon goodies.” Jazz said encouragingly and their slightly dull optics light brightly at the mention of goodies. After they finally arrived to the shop, Jazz turned on the generator which got the lights to all turn on. He knew it was a lot smaller than the hospital, but it was a lot easier to get supplies in the deserted city. Jazz had taken one of the large bombs and carved the inside out before filling it with a lot softer material. It wasn’t ideal, but it would be better than a rusty gurney. Skids and Ricochet were laid inside it with a fresh thermal blanket while the two adults unpacked things for them._

_Another year of the secret going by and Jazz was going to an abandoned warehouse. He was looking for something that Ratchet needed, completely unsure what it was again, and Data said that they needed some energon crystals. Jazz looked around quietly, knowing that he wasn’t alone but if he moved quietly enough the scraplets wouldn’t get him. He was moving fallen rubble until his audio horns picked up a high pitched scream. The visored mech dropped everything when he recognized the scream. The mech found Ricochet at the building entrance with a swarm of scraplets trying to get at him, one was eating his left hip and Jazz went into rage mode. He killed them in thirty seconds flat and Jazz quickly picked up his crying son._

_Energon was everywhere and sparks came from the leg that was barely hanging on. Jazz was in too much shock and worry to ask how in the pits Ricochet got all the way out there. “Rico, Rico, Ricochet hold on. Hold on, we're going home just hold on.” Jazz left the warehouse and rushed Ricochet back to the safety of the shop. Ricochet's optics were flickering, and Jazz risked his life by transferring spark energy like he did with his Sire. “You are not deactivating on me Ricochet Meister! I have to introduce you to everyone, to Sire. Remember that dream you told me? Tell me about it, come on Rico.”_

_Ricochet stressed himself out into a stasis lock by the time Jazz got them back to Halifax’s. The Carrier called out for Data and said it was an emergency. The drone ran out from the back room and spotted the Polyhexians. “What happened?”_

_“I don't know you tell me Data! You were supposed to watch him! He followed me to a scraplet infested building! Data, I can't lose him.” Jazz went down an emotional spiral. One youngling was recovering from a minor virus and the other was fighting for his life. Data carefully took Ricochet and placed him on the counter behind him._

_Jazz was fighting for the need to hover. He knew it wasn't going to make the medic go any faster. The Polyhexian paced near the entrance with him biting the back of a couple digits nervously, then rubbing his neck, and then repeat. He did this for several groons until Data said that Ricochet's leg was repaired. The visored mech went to Ricochet's side, the tiny leg was missing its entire hip plating, fuel lines and wiring were reconnected, and medical patches were wrapped around it._

_“I told Ricochet to stay and do his studies while I checked on Skids. I will have to make new leg armor, but his self-repair systems will finish the rest of the repairs. Jazz, I am sorry, I should have kept a closer optic on him.” Data apologized to Jazz as he held onto Ricochet's servo. “It may be a solar cycle before he onlines. Skids is completely virus free; he is online if you wish to see him.”_

_Jazz nodded as he stayed with Ricochet a bit longer. When he went to see Skids, the Praxian was sitting up and playing on his datapad, only stopping when he saw his Carrier. He tossed the pad on the blankets and ran to him with a happy laugh but stopped when their fields merged, and his smile was replaced with a frown. “Carrier, what's wrong? Where's Rico at?”_

_“Rico's getting fixed, he… he snuck outside and got really hurt.” Jazz tried to not burst into tears, needing to be strong for his sons. He hugged the smaller mech when he saw the tears rimming his optics. The Polyhexian knew that he had to keep Skids calm to avoid any memory episodes._

_“W-Will he b-be okay? W-Why can't I-I feel him?” Skids started drawing his intakes harder, and Jazz sat on the mattress with his arms wrapped around him tightly. He started singing a song into his receptor, wanting him to remain calm._

_The Carrier rocked the youngling back and forth before gently petting his wings. “Data said he will be okay after a while. My friends Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, they're twins just like you and sometimes when one of the is hurt they'll… put a door in front of their bond until they are ready to online. They came from here, Kaon. I think you four would become good friends.”_

_“Carrier, why did Rico's Sire hurt you? Doesn't he love you?” Skids was far too curious for his own good, but Jazz wanted to encourage that trait just like Blacklight did when training Jazz._

_The visored mech looked uncomfortable with the question, but he answered the best way he could. “Maybe a long time ago, but Carrier will always love Prowl. And maybe when you two are a bit older, I'll see if I can talk Prime and the others into letting you three stay with us on the ARK.”_

_“We could live on Earth!? With you and Sire, like a family?!” The youngling's excitement came and went faster than Jazz could respond. He sat up and put a servo to his mouth nervously. “But won't I make Sire sick if he saw us? And that meanie had red optics like Rico, won't the Autobots be mean to Rico?”_

_“Oh, no, no sweetspark. They wouldn't hurt you, either of you. Your uncles, Bluestreak and Smokescreen would spoil you rotten. And Ricochet's uncle, Blaster, has his own creations and would love meeting you both. Plus, Blaster is a telepath like Rico, so he could help him keep the voices out.” Jazz tried to be positive, but he knew that the chances of them staying on the ARK after what he plans on doing. He couldn't act yet, not with Shockwave's ‘mysterious’ deactivation still raw._

_The twins were now a deci-vorn old and it was time for the first lieutenant to act. He tucked the twins in and sat down beside them with a heavy sigh. He hit record on the data pad and just stared at it before rubbing the back of his neck with another sigh._

_“Hey Prowl… no scrap Ah… no I need to be honest with you about everything. My accent is fake, I had to use it to hide the fact that… that I'm a mole. The mech I belong… belonged to was Soundwave, but that all changed when you showed me the truth. You showed me something I've never experienced before, what it's liked to be truly loved and cherished. You are the most important mech in my life and I realized that what Bluestreak once told me about hurting those you love is true. And it hurts me to say this, but I'm ending this war. I'm going to kill Megatron, tell Optimus everything, and hope that you and the others can stop the Decepticons.” Jazz tilted his helm up trying to keep his voice box from cracking and again. “And I have been keeping a secret from you, but I hope that when you see this you'll understand. I had twin sons, one of them belongs to you and the other is Soundwave's. It happened a deci-vorn ago, when you saw me all beaten up and we merged.”_

_Jazz turned the pad around to show the recharging forms just long enough to get their details, and then it turned back to Jazz. “Operation: Europe was code for Cybertron, because it's foreign and why not right? Heh. Anyways, I have a medic drone from the war programmed to help me raise them safely. Prowler, I'm scared that I've made a terrible mistake. I should trust my team, my family, but… I'm terrified that they'll reject Ricochet because of who is Sire is. I'm scared you'll reject your own son because of my mistakes. And I… I don't deserve any of you, your friendships, your love. I'm no better than the Decepticons.”_

_He cried into his servo for a while before pulling himself together again. “And I know it's a long shot, but I need you to protect my sparklings from the life I had. Come to Halifax's shop, they'll be there, and hide them from Soundwave. If somehow my plan to stopping the Decepticons fail, I need you to keep them safe for me. I can't lose another sparkling to Soundwave. Please Prowl, I'm asking… begging you to protect my little stars from that monster. And know that I will always love you because you're my seventy percent.” And the recording ended._


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz finally can start over with a new protoform and frame. Prowl pulls a stupid Prowl move.

Ch. 25

The Autobots all stopped the memory viewing in a feeling of absolute shock and disbelief. Bluestreak and Smokescreen looked at each other with their wings shaking. They were uncles and their nephew was being interrogated like some criminal. Blaster was thinking along the same lines; he was connecting all the dots now that he knew all the information and he couldn't believe how he didn't see it before.

Ratchet leaned forward in his chair with his servos cupping the lower half of his face as he ex-vented hard. “I… just… I don't know what to even say. How did I not notice it before? He even had the same symptoms. Twins, Primus, we… we need to tell Optimus.”

“Already on it.” Ironhide said before comming Optimus. ::Prime, stop the interrogations with Skids and Ricochet. We just found out everything, and you're _not_ going to believe it. And prepare a hospital room for Prowl, he's going to need it.::

It was nearly three groons into the lunar cycle before Ratchet and First Aid finally pulled Jazz's protoform out of the CR tank. The door was thrown open and the medics jumped with startled shouts. The two mechs stood just through the doors with Ironhide, Prowl, and Ultra Magnus running behind them.

“We told you to wait with us.” Ironhide said when the twins stopped at the sight of their Carrier laying on the berth with energon being pumped into his tanks. Ricochet pushed through the medics and touched his Carrier's face with his field flaring up in worry.

“Get out of here, we have a serious discussion with the two of you once we are done.” Ratchet said aloud and let his mind open up. _We know, but I need to put him back together._

Ricochet growled and rose a digit to his face with his visors clicking back to show his darkened optics. “He had better pull through _Autobot_ Ratchet, or I will personally turn _you_ into a toaster. Come on Skids.” The Kaon lord grabbed his brother's servo and dragged him out of the room.

It was only another groon before the medics finally joined them out in the family waiting area. First Aid shut the door before Ratchet began. He was just going to get straight to the point and looked at Prowl, which caught the Praxian off guard. “Prowl, before I tell you this information, I need you to try very hard not to crash as you may trigger Skids’s glitch to go off.”

Prowl looked at the silent Praxian that looked at his servos. He looked back at the medic with a blank expression. “Why would my glitch cause his to go off? Just tell us what you saw. It cannot honestly be that bad.”

“Well you're a Sire and you sired one of two of Jazz's sparklings, roughly twenty-three Earth years ago.” Ratchet said as bluntly as he could muster. Skids peeked up at his sire for a reaction, but all the older Praxian did was look even more confused. The others just covered their optics with groans.

Ricochet pinched his nasal ridge and did a 180 personality flip. “Sweet Solus Prime and you all declare him highly intelligent. Hey bolts for brain how are sparklings made?” Ricochet asked the mech that seemed to slowly piece it together. “Yeah there ya go, twenty-three years ago you and Jazz did the big bang. You would have known this had you looked at that datapad like you were supposed too!”

“Rico, come on he didn't know.” Skids tried to calm down his brother.

“The idiot let _them_ beat our Carrier up! He literally walked away from him! Left us! And Carrier _still_ wants to bond with him!?” The Polyhexian threw an arm at the mech that was still processing the information. “I can't believe that I thought Prowl was a step up from Soundwave. I'm going home.” Ricochet left the waiting room, leaving his brother alone with the Autobots soon locking optics with him.

Skids flapped his wings nervously and looked around. “I… uh… I'm really sorry for the trouble we caused. You won't hear or from us again. We just… wanted our Carrier back.” He said before throwing a silver disc at the ground and was sucked through a vortex.

Prowl had his helm in his servos as his wings started spasming. Ironhide smacked him in the back of his helm. “Aren't you going to say something?! Go after them? They're Jazz's creations! Skids is your own son and you-"

“Don't. Do not say that word to me. I am not a Sire. I do not have any creations.” Prowl gripped the back of his helm to try and stop the error codes. He couldn't believe it; Jazz wouldn't keep _this_ a secret from him! They talked about having a family when he was sparked the first time.

“Bro, Ironhide's right, ya need to go after them. Try to maybe explain to them. You need to look at that datapad Jazz gave you.” Smokescreen put a servo on his big brother's shoulder. He knew that Prowl didn't mean to come off the way he did. Most of it had been well warranted shock. Prowl said nothing as he left the hospital, he needed to think about everything.

Optimus, who had yet to say anything, finally spoke. “Ratchet how long until Jazz onlines?”

Ratchet was about to tell him that it could be a several solar cycles, but a scream from one of the nurses got them all to book it for where the scream came from. They got down to the recovery rooms for the ICU where one of the femme nurses was leaning against the wall opposite of Jazz's room. Her arm was leaking and there was a scalpel lodged in her shoulder. “Life light, what happened?”

“H-He just attacked me!” She exclaimed before pulling the scalpel out of her pale green shoulder plating. There was another crashing sound and the alarm that was connected to Jazz’s spark went off, which meant that he was in spark failure.

The two head medics rushed in and saw Jazz hunched over purging his tanks, he was holding his side as he leaned against the berth. Ratchet had never seen anyone recover from a spark transfer that fast before. He took a step forward, getting an instant reaction from the Polyhexian. “Jazz, Jazz it’s okay. You’re safe.”

“Hatch’?” Jazz panted his friend’s name and groaned in pain as he held onto his side as his legs started to wobble. He felt so odd, in pain, and his processor felt like it was smashed under a ton of bricks. _Earth how did I get on Earth? Primus my entire body aches._ “H-How did… How did Ah get back tah Earth?”

“Well that tells me how much you remember. Jazz, what year is it?” Ratchet asked him as he helped him into the berth. The medic looked at the others, “if you aren’t currently working at this hospital then get out. I have a patient to take care of.”

Jazz had to rely on Ratchet and First Aid to just get in the berth. He was really confused, and he was also worried. His Carrier coding was going crazy and he needed to get back to Cybertron to move the twins. “Uh… 1990. March 25, 1990. Hatch’ how did Ah get back tah Earth? Why does my body feel like Ah got chosen for kick dah minibot? Why are my systems shut off? What is goin’ on!?”

“Jazz, you can drop the accent. We know and it’s been twenty-three Earth years Jazz, the war’s over. The Autobots won, and there’s a lot of things I need to tell you.” Ratchet said calmly while they connected him back up to the machine. Jazz panicked more and started ripping the sensors off of his frame. “Jazz, slaggit Jazz calm down they’re alive and safe. Okay!? Just calm down will you!? Let me do a quick hardline to get you up to date, but first pain levels.” Ratchet looked at his assistant, “First Aid, I need you to go down to the energon storage and bring me eight bags of unfiltered energon.”

“Alright Ratchet.” He had his happy-go-lucky attitude and headed for the door before stopping and turning around. “Nice frame Jazz.” And with that he left.

The Polyhexian looked at his frame and noticed how his frame the red and blue stripes were now thinner, and the numbers that had been on his frame were no gone. There were also small bits of gold on his chest plate. He touched his face and physically relaxed when he felt his visors on his face. “My entire frame hurts, but my back dah… the most. Where are they? Where are Skids and Ricochet at?”

“Well you had Sunstreaker and Tracks build you a new frame before we did a spark transfer. Which you asked for, I’ll show you the datapad as proof. I’ll help you sit up after we’ve gotten more energon in you. Honestly am surprised that you are online right now, I would have expected another half a deca cycle. They’re still in Kaon; we… I had to tell Prowl Jazz, I’m sorry. And why didn’t you trust us to protect _your_ sparklings? I’m a medic, I would have made sure no one harmed them.” Ratchet looked slightly betrayed for his friend’s lack of faith in him.

Jazz looked down at an angle, his field rippled in shame. “I… Last thing I remember was destroying Shockwave and then making plans to move them. I’m sorry Ratch’ I know I should've had faith, but I was scared Soundwave would take them away from me. Or do the same things to Skids like he did to me. I’m guessing Prowl didn’t take to finding out too well? I want my sons, please Ratchet? I just want to see them.”

“After you’ve gotten a bit more energon in your systems. And probably after everything calms down, Ricochet got a bit mad at Prowl and left, then Skids followed.” Ratchet explained just as the Protectobot returned with a cart of energon. The medic tapped the side of Jazz’s helm and shined the light in his face for reaction, but there was nothing. He sighed heavily in disappointment, “I’m sorry Jazz. I really thought you would be able to see after your transfer.”

He shook his helm and reactivated his visors, “I’ve decided to give up trying to fix my optics. It’s fine. And sorry for ya know… attacking your staff, I just you know-”

“I understand. After we get you fueled, you _will_ rest for the rest of the solar cycle. After that we’ll work on getting your new protoform used to carrying your weight.” Ratchet hooked one of the bags on the IV stand and scanned Jazz. “If you want, I can have Tracks comm you about what you asked him to put in your frame. Or you can just wait and find out on your own.”

Jazz pushed himself into a sitting position and reached over his shoulder with a huff. “Why does my back hurt so much? Primus, leave a wrench in m- what in the!?” He lurched forward when he felt his back shift until two long panels stood out from behind him. He shivered from the new sensory nodes that were flaring up. His jaws dropped and he touched his shoulder to look at his new appendages. “R-Ratch’ how did I get Praxian coding? Ratchet, I am this close to panicking right now.”

“Okay, okay calm down kid. I will give you a sedative if you can’t do it yourself. It was again per your request, Smokescreen offered to give a copy of his coding which Preceptor had stripped down to the basics to get the coding.” The older medic explained as he waved a syringe and Jazz went rigid. “Now will you like me to catch you up on everything in regards of you? Or do you want to start over?”

The Polyhexian looked at his lap thoughtfully before looking back up at his friend. “Hardline. Is… does… I need to know, what happened to Soundwave?”

“Ravage deactivated from protecting Soundwave and the others from Ricochet full force using his telepathy on Soundwave. Laserbeak and Buzzsaw are heading that way. Soundwave isn’t getting out, I promise you.” Ratchet explained before hardlining with Jazz, getting him caught up about everything he could about Jazz. When they disconnected from the hardline, the medic saw how stiff the Polyhexian was. He reached out to touch his shoulder, but the mech slumped forward with his servos covering his face. “We have forgiven you Jazz, nearly the entire team was in the waiting room when we started the spark transfer.”

The visored mech took a deep intake with a nod before looking at his servos as if he expected energon to still be there. “I think I’m going to take a nap. Process all of this.”

First Aid and Ratchet locked optics and they nodded. “Alright Jazz, if you need anything press the button to get ahold of the nurses.” The two mechs left Jazz alone to fall onto his back, completely forgetting about his wings until his pain increased from the new sensors activating. He screamed behind a bit lip before rolling onto his side with his legs curled in front of him. The Polyhexian looked at his arm where he expected glyphs to be at, but when it was clean looking a smile grew on his face. _Brand new start._

It had been a couple solar cycles since Jazz onlined, and Optimus was on his way to visit his friend but stopped after cracking the door open when he heard singing coming from inside the room.

_Dear Theodosia, what to say to you?_

_You have my eyes_

_You have your Sire’s pride_

_When you came into the world, you cried, and it broke my spark_

_I’m dedicating every day to you_

_Domestic life was never quite my style_

_When you smile, you knock me out, I fall apart_

_And I thought I was so smart_

_You will come of age with our young nation_

_We’ll bleed and fight for you; we’ll make it right for you_

_If we lay a strong enough foundation_

_We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you_

_And you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

_Yeah, you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

_Oh Rico, when you smile, I am undone_

_My son_

_Look at my son_

_Pride is not the word I’m looking for_

_There is so much more inside me now_

_Oh Rico, you outshine the morning sun_

_My son_

_When you smile, I fall apart_

_And I thought I was so smart_

_My Sire wasn’t around (My Sire wasn’t around)_

_I swear that_

_I’ll be around for you (I’ll be around for you)_

_I’ll do whatever it takes_

_I’ll make a million mistakes_

_I’ll make the world safe and sound for you_

_Will come of age with our young nation_

_We’ll bleed and fight for you; we’ll make it right for you_

_If we lay a strong enough foundation_

_We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you_

_And you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

_Yeah, you’ll blow us all away_

_Someday, someday_

The Prime slowly opened the door to see Jazz sitting up with Skids and Ricochet sitting on the berth. Ricochet was laying his torso down the length of Jazz’s legs with his Carrier stroking his horns. Skids was leaning against the healing mech. The Praxian looked up when his wings twitched and he quickly jumped off the berth, startling the other two mechs. Ricochet zipped over to the open window. Optimus put his servos in the air in hopes of calming the two creations. “I’m not going to hurt you, any of you. I would actually like to talk to you three about _things_. Can we be civil?”

Jazz knew his Carrier programming shouldn’t be so active, but he still remembered his sons as younglings, so it was going to be awhile before it deactivated. “It’s okay Skids, Ricochet. And you promised me that you would stay the entire day Ricochet.”

The Polyhexian jerked his shoulders like the humans did when they pulled their jackets. He crossed his arms with a huff, “why should I listen to him? He wouldn’t listen to me. The _mighty_ Optimus Prime only cares about this side of the hemisphere.”

“Ricochet Meister, you will sit down on this berth with me right now or so help me I will force you.” Jazz used his stern Carrier tone and the Kaon lord sat back down with his back turned to the Prime. Skids sat beside his Carrier with his gaze looking down. “I’m sorry Optimus, I swear I taught him better manners than that.”

“Well if I remember what Ratchet had told me, they _did_ think Ratchet was a good role model. And I understand that he feels betrayed because of what happened, and I should have handled it better. Have they told you about what they’ve been doing for most of their adulthood?” Optimus asked after sitting in one of the visitor chairs.

Jazz nodded and gave his sons concerning glances, “as much as I don’t like it what they are doing reminds me a lot of what you believe in Optimus. Kaon it’s… it’s all coding-orientated, the old Kaonions were built by the Quintessons as berserkers and knew only enslavement and killing. Even though the coding mellowed out after the civil war between Cybertron and the Quintessons, it still was engrained in them to kill. And having slaves and the Pit was just a way to take out their frustration for not fighting. Even though I don’t agree with how my sons are handling the situation, they are doing the right thing by giving all of these innocent lives a chance to have freedom. If the Council can close their mouths and open their receptors to hear what those who have to say, then Cybertron can finally be free. Just give them a chance Optimus, not all Kaonions are evil like Megatron just like not all Iaconians are good like you.”

Optimus listened to his friend talk. He looked at the Lord’s shoulder where the ‘redemption’ glyph was still at. “If Ricochet and those that wish to see slavery demolished in their cities wish to speak, then they can stand before the Council and I.” The twins both looked up at once and looked at the Prime with looks of surprise. “Ricochet, I’m sorry if I offended you and your beliefs. I realize that just because we are the leaders and our cities are slightly more diverse than most, it doesn’t mean I know what is happening everywhere.”

The Kaon lord looked the Prime up and down with skepticism before losing a bit of attitude. “And I suppose I should apologize for the trouble I caused you and the Council. I know that you wished to help my Carrier, I guess I feared that if you didn’t like what he suppressed you would have him thrown back in Newgate. However, I will _not_ apologize for what I did to Soundwave nor the mechs that raped my Carrier as well as apologize to Prowl.”

“Hey Rico, could we just _not_ talk about Newgate, okay? We’re finally getting a hearing with the Council.” Skids tried to keep the peace before looking up at Optimus with a nervous twitch of his wings. “You’re not mad at Carrier for hiding us, are you?”

“No, I can’t hold it against Jazz for what _he thought was best_. He took very good care of you both with the limited resources he had.” Optimus spoke honestly and Jazz sat up a little straighter with a smile. The red and blue mech rubbed his digits thoughtfully before locking optics with his friend. “I had wanted to wait until you could stand properly, but I feel like now is the only chance I have before we get too busy with everything. I would like to have you back as my right hand mech, if you would like. You’ll be staying on Cybertron until Ratchet determines your new frame can handle travel, decent pay, a bit of land in Iacon. You can even talk to Mirage about Ops, if you want.”

Jazz looked at his friend with his new wings subconsciously disengaging from his back. He yelped when they pressed against the pillows behind him and Skids quickly helped him readjust. _Why I thought having wings was a good idea, I have no idea._ The Polyhexian finally focused his attention on the question. “I would love to be your lieutenant Prime, but… I _just_ got my sons back. And I wouldn’t want to take leading ops away from Raj, he’s my friend and in all honesty he should have gotten it during the war.”

“Like I said you won’t be travelling off world for a while and if you do it’s usually Planet of Junk or Earth. You’d be doing mostly secretarial work and helping with training new recruits. And the twins can even-” Optimus stopped when he saw the scowl on his face.

Jazz threw his arm to the side with a shake of his helm. “No, out of the question. I do not want either of them in the Autobot ranks.”

“But-” Skids frowned with confusion. He still wanted to be an Autobot like both of his creators. The Praxian tilted his wings down before looking at his brother with his wings twitching. “Rico, Tarn commed. There’s a riot at _Twisted Spark_ , we should probably go.”

Ricochet stood up and nodded his helm, “alright. I swear to Primus I leave Kaon for two nano-seconds and riots are everywhere. King Cog is so incompetent sometimes.” He hugged his Carrier and kissed the side of his face. “We’ll come back tonight, promise.”

“You better because I will risk taking a wrench.” Jazz joked as he hugged Skids. The Praxian pulled out the disc and tossed it on the ground, the Polyhexian looked in amazement. He knew that kind of thing would have been useful during the war. “Stay safe you two.”

“Knowing Rico, it’ll take no time. He’s mastered the silent glare.” Skids chuckled before Ricochet sighed and kicked him through. Jazz crossed his arms with a frown.

The young lord shrugged nonchalantly, “whoops. Don’t worry Carrier, this sort of thing is pretty common at this time of the year. Slagging hate ceremonial fairs.” He walked through the portal before it closed behind him. Jazz’s shoulders drooped as he let out a heavy sigh. The Polyhexian was a bit disappointed how everything just went down.

“Can I think about it Optimus? I just… and I know I probably complained about it before my spark transfer because you know memory loss, but I feel like I betrayed everyone, especially you.” Jazz looked up over at his friend before trying to put on a brave face. “And I think Raj should keep his position, he looks very grounded. Hide came to see how I was doing; I’ve been living with him?”

Optimus nodded and moved his chair closer to the berth. “You can think about it for as long as you want Jazz. And you have, I think Chromia appreciates that you kept his home cleaner than it had been in before you did.” The two laughed and the Prime folded his servos as he relaxed his postures. “Ricochet is very proud and cares about the future of his city. I’m going to be honest, but I was worried that he would be like Megatron. The way he talks about freedom and removing the Kaon leader from power, it is very unnerving. And with a processor like Skids and two ex-Decepticons following him, he could fall down a deep hole.”

“’Co was always a curious mind that wanted to show off all of his new tricks. The klik he could crawl around he learned how to tumble, natural gymnast that mech was. When his telepathy started up, he started to close himself off and go hide in dark places in hopes to keep the thoughts out. I tried my best to protect him from the dark thoughts, but he… he hadn’t recharged nearly two solar cycles and snapped. It felt like pressure was building up in my processor, and he didn’t stop until I showed him _exactly_ what his Sire did to me with his telepathy. That’s when I started using Blacklight’s mask to help and it worked for a really long time. And Skids is almost an exact clone of Prowl, he’s so bright and so sweet. It was nearly impossible to keep up with him in his studies, heh, I remember watching him work on this simulation Prowl made for an old battle. Primus watching him work it out was so thrilling.” Jazz smiled sweetly as he got lost in his memories. “I want them to live their lives, find love, have a family. Have the things I never had the chance to have. That’s why I don’t want them to be Bots and because I’m scared how any of them would treat Ricochet. What do you mean ex-Cons? I thought they were all locked up?”

“Two members of the DJD managed to avoid being imprisoned. Tarn and Vos have been staying in Kaon with them. And another Decepticon known as Deadlock went through a spark transfer and is with Hot Rod, who is a Councilor.” Optimus explained a bit more about everything that had gone on. Jazz was listening intently before the door opened up to reveal Ratchet.

“Okay visiting is over. I need to tend to my patient and get him to physical therapy.” The medic walked over and started his scans. Optimus teased and bid his farewells before leaving the mechs. Ratchet started unhooking Jazz from the machines and got a bit more physical with his examination. “You know, Preceptor is always looking for someone to be an assistant of sorts. I think Skids would enjoy learning from him.”

“Well I can’t answer for him. He told me that he wants to do music.” Jazz admitted before quickly adding, “not that they were here early this morning or anything.”

Ratchet pointed to the camera that was in the room, “like I told you, I wasn’t expecting you to be online so soon. How does everything feel? Any numbness or tense cables?”

Jazz shook his helm with a smile, “I feel okay for now. Ask me after this so called physical therapy. Can I test out my sound system?” The Polyhexian gave his friend a cheeky smile and got a small cuff on the back of his helm, which only made him laugh more. “I'm just teasing. I'll wait until I'm released from this place. How's Blaster doing? I know what we had was just to help me cope and stuff, but he's still my friend.”

“He's doing better, and he told me during a meeting that he planned on coming to see you sometime. Claims to have a care package to keep you out of trouble.” Ratchet said with a bit of skepticism, he knew exactly what it would be, and he was going to have to limit the volume of the music.

Jazz perked up and threw the blankets off his legs. He had to start from square one on his mass, but he was motivated to get back to his preferred mass for Skids and Ricochet. _I can do this. And when I get out, I'm going to talk to Prowl. At least talk to him, explain to him._ Ratchet helped him stand up and get him onto his peds. It took a couple times of Jazz falling back on the berth before he finally found his stabilizers. The medic kept his servos on his midsection just in case Jazz fell again. “I'm good, I'm good. Is there a way to deactivate these things sticking out of me? It's too much weight right now.”

“Yeah, give me a second.” Ratchet pulled away just enough to make sure nothing was broken. When he determined everything was good to go, Ratchet gently coaxed the wings to fold back into their original place. “Better?”

The Polyhexian sighed with relief and rolled his shoulder. “Pits yes.” The medic took a couple steps back and they tried walking without any support just so the medic could decide if Jazz needed any extra support. After a few stumbles, a couple falls, and a whole lot of swearing Ratchet declared that a cane was a good idea. The visored mech made a comment on how much of a cripple he was, which earned him a wrench to the back of the helm. “This is so embarrassing Ratch'.”

“Embarrassing or not, I want you using that thing until you've built a bit more strength in your legs. Now sit down and refuel; your tanks dropped to forty-forty percent from all that work.” The medic helped Jazz down on the berth before handing him the cube. He was examining him before the window behind them opened up slowly. They watched Ricochet swing inside before closing the window he came in through. The younger Polyhexian turned around and shouted in surprise. “You do know there is a door for a reason.”

Ricochet opened his subspace and pulled out a box, setting it beside his Carrier. “So? Maybe I don't want to deal with all those Autobots sitting out there. Skids is busy taking some Velocitrons to Velocity before their speed matrices go offline. Some idiot Sire traded his creations for his freedom.”

“Where was their Carrier?” Jazz frowned and felt a twinge of sadness thinking of how a creator would just do that. _At least my creators fought for me._

“Off-world for a race. She's cousins with one of my Velocitron friends, she came to us for help. That's what the riot was about, apparently stealing bot napped sparklings from a bunch of sickos warranted attacking my business.” Ricochet rolled his shoulder until it popped. “Don't even think about it medic, I don't want your digits in my systems.”

“You're clearly injured Ricochet, just let me make sure you didn’t break anything.” Ratchet said with a stern tone and the telepath sighed as he went around to the medical berth before sitting beside his Carrier. The medic put pressure on the arm he had popped before glancing at Jazz. “What is with the mechs in your family disliking show a bit of weakness around medics?”

Jazz shrugged, “don’t know about Light, but I think you know why I don’t like medics. You, Aid, and Data are the only ones allow in my internals.”

“Medics in Kaon like taking things apart.” Ricochet looked at the cane that was leaning against the wall next to the berth. His visors deactivated and he looked at his Carrier with worry in his optics. _Carrier, I’m scared. I’m so scared, but I don’t know how to physically show it. I tried so hard to be a mech like you, but I’ve turned into that monster._

The visored mech heard the stress in his son’s thoughts and pulled him into his arms with his servos holding him tightly. Ratchet stepped back to let the two have their moments, he saw a single tear actually slide down the telepath’s cheek plate. Jazz rubbed his horn to comfort his little star. _‘Co, you are nothing like Soundwave. I know you did somethings you probably regret, but you kept you all safe and I can’t be mad at you for that. I can see that the sweet, curious, and bright mech that you were as a youngling is still in there._ The Carrier continued petting the back of his white helm. “I am so proud of you ‘Co.”

Ricochet pulled away slowly and wiped his face before activating his visors. He cleared his voice box before standing up, “I should get back to Kaon before something else happens.” He jumped in the window before looking over his shoulder to look at the medic that was slowly returning to his Carrier’s side. “And Autobot Ratchet? Thank you, for giving my Carrier back to me. You have my trust.”

Before the medic could respond the young mech climbed out the window. Jazz looked at his friend with an appreciative smile. He knew that the others just saw a mini Soundwave despite the fact he physically looked like him. “I know you aren’t into sentimental moments but thank you for letting us have that.”

“Don’t worry, pretty much used to it at this point. You are going to recharge, there will be a nurse or First Aid coming around every few groons to change out the energon bags, so try to _not_ attack them.” Ratchet said seriously, but Jazz chuckled. He left the Polyhexian for the lunar cycle and Jazz just laid down to look outside the still open window.

It was very early in the solar cycle when Jazz felt another field merged with his, and he risked onlining all the way. He had yet to see Prowl after he went through the whole spark transfer, and he tried to not show the pain to anyone that did come to see him. When he saw a monochrome frame sitting in the chair that was next to his berth, fast in stasis. He gasped softly as he looked at the Praxian that was hunched over with his helm resting on the edge of the berth. His servo slowly rested on the top of his lover’s helm, and Prowl started onlining with his wings twitching.

Jazz panicked when he saw that he ruined the moment. He quickly laid back down and turned his back in hopes Prowl would go back into stasis. A servo touched Jazz’s shoulder, getting him to tense as he was rolled onto his back. “H-Hi Prowler.” The Polyhexian didn’t mean to stutter, but he was a bit scared to talk to the mech he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. _If he still wants me._

“I believe we have a lot to talk about Jazz.” Prowl sounded distant to the visored mech, and Jazz knew that Prowl must have been glitching or trying to not crash. The Polyhexian sat up with his helm looking at his lap and the Praxian sat on the edge of the berth with his servos folded in his lap. “I just… Jazz, why didn’t you come to me? I meant what I said when you were sparked with the first sparkling, I _will protect you and help you_. Why didn’t you trust me with this?”

“I wanted to, I really did, but my fear of Soundwave consumed my spark more. If I was stronger in myself, I would have made you more involved.” Jazz kept his voice soft and avoided his lover’s gaze. The Polyhexian took the chance to look at him. “Are… Are you mad? They were excited to meet you as younglings.”

Prowl rested his forehelm in his digits before ex-venting hard. “In all honesty? Yes, I’m mad, I’m mad that you _have_ no faith in me. I’m mad that I missed my own creation’s life, because his Carrier was too scared to _trust_ me. I didn’t even want to be here, but I had to because it was the _right_ thing to do.”

The Polyhexian closed his field off and looked back down. “I… understand. I… You… Are you going to leave me?” _Please don’t, please don’t leave me._

“No, I don’t plan on leaving. But Jazz, I need you to understand I want nothing but honesty between us. And I need time before I’ll be comfortable seeing either of them. I don’t want to be called Sire for an undetermined amount of time. Just thinking about the whole thing causes my glitch to start.” Prowl said and looked at him with his wings twitching. Jazz kept his field still closed off with a soft whimper. The Praxian moved closer to the Polyhexian and took his servos in his. “Jazz, look at me.”

His helm looked up briefly before looking away. “You’re right, I should have trusted you more. I’ve ruined your dream of having a family, Rico and Skids wanted you as their S-, and… and I hurt you even more.”

“Jazz, I need you to calm down okay? Just give me… time to adjust. Now come on scoot over so I can hold you.” Prowl said with a small smile on his face. Jazz moved over and the Praxian laid on the berth with an arm going around his waist. The visored mech turned around to face Prowl with his helm tilted up slightly. Prowl looked down and gently squeezed him. “I love your new frame and I can’t wait to see you after you’re out. My brother, Sunstreaker, and Tracks did a wonderful job.”

Jazz’s face heated up and he hid his face in the white and black chest plate. “That’s not all, but… I want to wait until I can walk on my own. I… will you still want to court me?”

“We’ll talk tomorrow, let me just hold you.” Prowl kissed one of Jazz’s horns with a gentle caress of the side of his frame that he wasn’t laying on. Jazz purred and snuggled closer to Prowl with one leg sliding between Prowl’s. The mechs were soon fast in stasis well into the morning. Jazz onlined with just himself in the berth which ensued panic in him until he saw Prowl and Ratchet standing near the door softly talking. He sat up which caught the other mechs’ attention. They joined the Polyhexian’s side and Prowl took Jazz’s servo. “Good morning Jazz. How did you recharge?”

“Good. Are you having to go? Can’t you stay just a bit longer?” Jazz looked up at him with a slight tilt of his helm. The Praxian gave his servo a sympathetic squeeze and he sighed in disappointment. “Okay.”

“I have to get work done, but I will try to come back before visiting hours is finished.” Prowl kissed Jazz’s helm before leaving the Polyhexian to start going through his examination. Jazz worked really hard that day, Ratchet decided to try and have him walk the hall to see if he could handle it. The Polyhexian stopped and leaned against the wall with his cooling fans working hard to cool his strained systems.

“Jazz, as much as I am pleased to see you determined to get your strength back, I don’t want you to overheat from pushing yourself.” Ratchet had cooling pads in his servos as he placed a couple on his chest plate. The visored mech hated that he had to rely on the cane to even help him stand, but after just walking literally ten steps, it was a life saver. He felt the heat being expelled from his body by the time Ratchet finished placing one final cooling pad on.

“I just want to be able to walk without feeling like I had sparklings again. Trust me, I couldn’t walk straight for a while but thankfully Data gave me some pain relievers. Remind me to never have sparklings emerge from my frame and then leave early the next solar cycle.” Jazz tried to joke with Ratchet, but the silent glare and crossed arms hinted to the visored mech that his friend wasn’t amused. “I know, I know if I stayed on the ARK then none of that would have happened. I get it.”

Ratchet nodded and removed the cooling pads before helping him back to his room. Jazz rolled into the berth with a heavy groan at finally getting off his peds. The medic commed the nurse station about bringing a cube to Jazz’s room. “A cube will get here soon, but I have to finish my rounds before turning it over to First Aid. And I won’t be back for a few solar cycles, but there will be a mech to help with your physical therapy until I get back.”

“I have no say in this do I?” Jazz pushed himself up right with a small grunt.

“No, you do not, I want you to work just as hard. I don’t care if you like me more than the other medics.” Ratchet pointed a digit at him with a firm press of his lips.

Over the course of several solar cycles Jazz was visited by either the twins before they left when Ricochet felt someone approaching his room. Prowl came when he could, ops usually came by late at night, Blaster had finally swung by with the music after a few solar cycles. The Host told his friend that he would have come by sooner, but the breaking of the bond really messed with him. Jazz completely understood and knew that his friend just needed some comfort. So, they spent the entire visit listening to music and just lying in the medical berth with the Cassetticons laying on top of them.

“Okay, I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but has he come and seen you? I know he’s your brother’s son, but Rico could really use the help.” Jazz looked to his side where Blaster was leaning against the wall beside him.

“Naw, he hasn’t come tah even talk. He doesn’t really like meh cause Ah abandoned Soundwave before dah war. If he just let meh explain why Ah left Soundwave then maybe Ricochet would see dat Ah’m really a cool mech.” Blaster shrugged before playfully poking his friend’s shoulder. “Ya seem tah be fillin’ out really nicely, can’t wait tah have my dancin’ buddy again.”

Jazz started laughing, “well you can count on me to pick up your slack.” Blaster nudged him as they started laughing more. The Polyhexian looked up when the door opened up slowly. They all looked up to see Skids stopping in the doorway with his arms full of random items. Skids’s wings flared as he jumped in surprise. “Skids, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, well I uh…I was needing your help with something, but um… I'll come back later. Sorry.” Skids started to back out the door, but his Carrier stopped him.

“No, you can stay. We're just chatting and listening to music. How long is your brother going to stay on the roof?” Jazz asked the younger twin as he chuckled sheepishly. The blue Praxian sat the items on an empty table that was under the small holoscreen.

“Quiet space. He didn't want me coming alone, but the voices got to him. I um… I actually came to ask if you could help me with this sheet music. The colors don't flow right, and Rico is zero help with that.” Skids sat at the end of the berth and reclined against his servos.

Blaster looked at the Praxian with a slight tilt of his helm. “He still has problems blockin’? Is Rico’ usin’ ya as a window?”

“He says you don’t get to call him ‘Rico’. Rico gets grumpy when his focus is shaken; he usually is really good about blocking out the thoughts, but he’s really stressed about the whole thing in Kaon. There was an incident involving a slave and he isn’t taking it so well.” Skids’s wings dipped as he rubbed his arm with a depressed sigh. “She tried to resist her owner’s order and she was… publicly executed.”

Jazz covered his mouth in shock at the news. “Oh Primus. What happened? Are you both okay?”

“We were at Twisted Spark hosting a party when it happened. One of our… agents saw her being carried away and reported it on his way over to the bar.” Skids looked up at his Carrier with a sad smile. “You probably miss Kaon less and less, huh?”

“I don’t, but I miss you both. Is Twisted Spark doing good, I haven’t been there in nearly a century.” Jazz tried to keep the memories positive as he listened to his creation talk about business. He was glad to hear that it had changed from the bar that he had seen in the past. The twins removed all of the erotic décor and changed it to apparently a common décor from Helix that was mixed with Tarn decorations. Skids practiced his singing while they helped free anyone that wanted to get out. The Praxian said that often times than not that a lot of slaves were in the same mindset Jazz had been in before he broke free from Soundwave, and they wanted to change their owners in the name of love.

The door opened at Ricochet, well Ricochet as his Meister persona, walked in the room. His field felt drained and he physically looked worn down. Blaster knew all too well that look, he was like that a lot of the times when he was first learning. The mech joined his brother and laid backwards, minding the Cassetticons. He held up a single digit, “do not even think about it Carrier. You are not coming to Kaon for any reason.”

“But I’m concerned for you Ricochet.” Jazz frowned with his servo reaching out for his son’s helm. He put his servo on the mask Ricochet was wearing, but he didn’t want to take it off while he was trying to center himself. “Can you please just give Blaster a chance? He can help you.”

An ex-vent escaped from behind the mask as he took his twin’s servo. After a few nano-minutes of silence in the room, Ricochet finally removed the mask to look up at his Carrier from an upside down angle. The younger Polyhexian’s optics darted to his uncle before looking back at his Carrier. “It’s hard… to block out the thoughts with lack of control of my emotions.” He didn’t want to make optic contact with the other telepath, his field pulsed with discomfort.

“Usin’ dah mask like how ya are tah ground ya self is a good way tah start. For meh when Ah need tah be grounded Ah just do a cuddle sesh with my minis.” Blaster explained as he docked his creations. “Have ya tried dah closin’ dah door?”

“Kinda hard to close a fake door when all you can hear are personal thoughts.” Ricochet’s words were filled with sarcasm. He sat up and crossed his arms with an annoyed huff. Jazz sighed slightly and decided to just give up on trying to help his son, and Ricochet must have heard his Carrier’s thoughts because he stood up with the mask going back in place. “I’ll be in Helix in three solar cycles; we have a safe house there. Just look up ‘Sanus’ on Telatraan, he’ll show you where it is. Come Skids, we should head back to the manor before they actually do leave Kaon.”

Skids mumbled something under his intake before hugging their Carrier. He kissed his cheek before stepping back to let his brother give his goodbyes. The brothers were heading for the door, but the Praxian quickly went back to Jazz's side and handed him a couple discs with a sympathetic smile. “They open into Halifax's back room if you ever feel like visiting.”

Jazz took the small discs with a smile. He watched them leave and the Carrier sighed heavily with his shoulders sinking. Blaster knew that expression as it was a common expression when Jazz was making something personal and taking the blame for it. “Wanna talk about it?” the Councilor offered his receptor.

“It just… Ricochet used to be so much like me, like Bumblebee. He was so happy, thoughtful, the sweetest mechling I've ever seen and now he's… he's so much like his Sire, personality wise. Ironhide told me what he did to those mechs in Newgate, what he did Starscream and Soundwave! If I had just told Ratchet, I would have my sweet mechling. He wouldn't be struggling to control his telepathy! Skids would have a relationship with Prowl! My sons wouldn't be in Kaon!” Jazz started breaking down. Blaster hugged him in an attempt to comfort the Polyhexian.

“Jazz, remember ya did dis tah protect ‘em. If ya had ‘em at dah ARK, then who knows what would've happened tah ‘em. Ah'll help Ricochet learn tah control himself. Skids will have a relationship with Prowl and his brothers after Prowl learns tah grow up.” The mech said as he cupped the sides of Jazz's helm to get him to look at him.

Jazz nodded as he tried controlling his intakes. He knew Blaster was right, but he couldn't help but take blame for all of it. “Thanks Blaster. It just hurts me to see the three most important mechs in my life not liking each other. Prowl refuses to acknowledge their existence, Skids is afraid of being caught hanging out with me, and Ricochet despises Prowl. There was a time where Rico would call Prowl his Sire; he was so happy to think about us being a family. And now… he wants nothing to do with him.”

“J, dat's just how Cybertronians dat rely and grow up in large groups are. If someone breaks dat trust, dat bond, then it'll take a long time to regain dat trust. Ya don’t need tah put dah blame on yerself.” Blaster tried to comfort the Polyhexian before moving onto happier thoughts, “so how did ya get ‘em tah see colors like ya?”

“Hardline for a while until Skids told me that he could see all of these colors when I was singing once. They’re definitely my sons, we would spend groons making treats and dance to all sorts of music. Primus those were one of my happiest moments in my life.” Jazz chuckled before sighing happily and laughed at the memories it brought up.

“Skids certainly has a mean set of pipes.” The councilor complimented and Jazz nodded with a small chuckle.

“So, I've been told and seen. Glad to see my sudden need to burst out into a song was successfully passed onto at least one of my sons.” Jazz laughed and was soon joined in by Blaster. They finished their time before First Aid kindly telling the mechs that visiting hours was done. The two friends hugged it out and Blaster promised to keep an optic on his sons for him to which Jazz was forever grateful.

Prowl was at the precinct dealing with a sudden spike of job applications coming through from mechs and femmes wanting various of positions. When he was crossing the entrance, he stopped in his walk to the back when he saw someone standing in front of the bulletin board right in view of the front desk. It was the mech that was claiming to be his son and he was looking very sternly at the missing youngling poster. He flared his wings when he must’ve sensed that he was being watched. Their optics locked for about point five nanoseconds before he quickly retreated out of the station.

“He's been coming here every solar cycle looking at that poster.” Envoy informed Prowl. “Do you think he may know where the little femme is at?”

The Praxian commander shook his helm when he pulled himself out of his thoughts. “No but let me know if he shows up again.” Prowl instructed before returning to his office. He stopped when he saw that a casefile was being copied to a different location. The Praxian commed a certain spy, ::Mirage, it's Prowl. I need Hound's nose.::


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything seems to be good on the forefront. The twins become instantly attached to their Carrier. Ricochet still hates Prowl and Autobots, but mainly Prowl.

Ch. 26

After nearly a week Jazz was finally allowed to return home, or at least his and Ironhide's. When the two made it safely home, Jazz was pleasantly surprised to see Ricochet leaning against the house. Ironhide was tense by seeing the mech just standing there, but he was Jazz's son, so he had to trust him. The blue visored mech hugged his son with a nuzzle. “What are you doing here Co?”

“I was finally able to pull away from politics. Skids would have come, but he's busy with… personal issues. I should head back to Kaon before gramps here decides that I'm a threat like my Sire.” Ricochet pushed himself off the building and walked past the pair. He transformed and took off before his Carrier could stop him.

Jazz held a servo up before dropping it and looked down with a heavy sigh. Ironhide put a servo on his friend's shoulder in hopes of comforting him. “Give him some time kid. We all did thought he was going to kill you.”

“I know, I know. Can we get inside so I can sit down?” Jazz hinted at before Ironhide hurriedly opened the door for the Polyhexian. He was helped into the living where he collapsed onto the couch with a groan of relief. “Primus did Ratchet give me your legs?”

Ironhide laughed hard before putting a servo on his arm. “Well I’m going to get us some energon and let you rest before giving you the grand retour.”

The Polyhexian nodded with a chuckle before being left alone to his own thoughts. He looked around and saw how very simple the decoration was, but he knew his cleaning routine when he saw it. Jazz tried to force himself up to explore the living room, but his legs weren’t having it after what seemed like a long drive and that very brief walk out of the hospital and into the house. He groaned as he held onto his ankle strut when just the tiniest of pressure had been put on it. Ironhide had heard the sound from the other room and quickly returned to make sure Jazz didn’t hurt himself again. “Here. And can you just relax for like five kliks? You just got out of Ratchet’s hold and I would like to avoid his wrench.”

“We wouldn’t want that. Okay let me see if I have this whole thing straight; I spent twenty plus Earth years in a prison where Decepticons are held at, the council let me go free if I went on parole and community service, my sons started harassing you all in order to make sure my memory was restored, I’m in this weird relationship with Prowl, I’m working for Optimus, and now you’re trying to figure out whether or not to let Ricochet attempt at convincing the council at letting someone represent his people. And then on top of that, Soundwave is dying? Did I get all of the important points?” Jazz clarified before sipping his energon.

“All right.” Ironhide nodded with a firm press of his lips.

There was a long pause before Jazz broke out into a smile and he rested his helm in his servos. “I can’t believe this. I’m free. He can’t get me anymore.” He jumped Ironhide and hugged him tightly as he broke into tears of joy. “Thank you for everything Ironhide. Thank you so much.”

Ironhide returned the hug and let the mushiness happen for a bit. He finally had enough of it and pushed the Polyhexian off of him. “Alright, alright enough with the gushing. You just focus on regaining yourself.”

Jazz nodded with a tired sigh when he collapsed back on the sofa. “Hide. Did you think I would ever break from Soundwave?”

“At first, I was worried you would crack, don’t get me wrong you did have a few moments, but you always got over it. When you and Prowl started talking to each other again, I saw the real you appearing. But Jazz, I want you to know that if you ever need Prowl’s face smashed in, let me know.” Ironhide cracked a playful grin, getting a laugh before Jazz sat his half empty cube down on the table in front of them. “Come on, need help to your room?”

The Polyhexian nodded with a long yawn. Jazz grabbed the cane and used it to brace himself as Ironhide helped make sure he didn’t fall. They carefully walked to Jazz’s room where he just flopped onto the berth without even a glance around his surroundings. He pulled the covers over his face and the red mech took that as his hint to leave him. _I’m all yours now Prowler._ Over the next several days, Jazz was found mostly in the workout room, in his berth, or at his appointments with Bluestreak. Prowl had stopped by Ironhide’s and waited for Jazz in his room, unbeknownst by Ironhide as he went to work out. The Polyhexian stepped out of his washroom with a towel over his helm.

When the towel came off, Jazz wasn’t wearing his visors, but he finally heard the slight ex-venting and air moving around moving wings. He put a servo on his hips with a playful smile. “Wings aren’t moving a million miles an hour, so definitely not Skids, you aren’t talking a million miles, so not Smokescreen, and you forgot how to quiet your intakes, so you _can’t_ possibly be Bluestreak.” He grabbed his new visors that sat on his nightstand as he climbed on the Praxian’s lap. The cyan glass flickered on until he saw the white and black Praxian staring at him. “Hiya. Now, I’m no expert on relationships, but I believe it’s considered rude to not even comm someone you consider… your seventy percent. Prowler.”

“Jazz, ahem… you look… great. I apologize for not getting into contact, I’ve been busy with work as well as helping Smokescreen pick a venue for his upcoming mating ceremony.” Prowl said before Jazz leaned in close to him. “Jazz, I certainly hope you are not doing this because of the symbiont coding.”

“Coding free baby. From this moment on, I. Am. All. Yours.” Jazz walked a couple digits up Prowl’s chest before tapping them on his lips. He smiled before hugging his lover, “Prowler, the spark transfer deleted everything Soundwave did to me. All of the interface mods, the Host and symbiont mods, and everything in between he did to me is _gone_. I read the letters you sent me, listened to our comm chats I recorded, just so I can be with you. I don’t want to be your seventy percent anymore. I want to be so much more to you, if you’ll have me.”

The Praxian rolled them around and pinned his lover’s servos above his helm. His wings flared upwards with a single digit going to the visored mech’s lips. “Jazz, will you stop this jabbering for two kliks so I can get a sentence or two in? Your ridiculous notion on whether I will have you or not, is just that, ridiculous. Of course, I will continue to court you. And you are correct, my calculations needed some adjustments. Jazz, citizen of Iacon, will you accept being my ninety percent and allow me to court you?”

“Yes, yes I will.” Jazz hugged Prowl tightly before pulling away long enough to kiss Prowl on the lips. They pulled away after they realized what happened. He looked away heating up with embarrassment before Prowl gently guided him to look back at him. “Nice and slow?”

Prowl nodded with a gentle smile. “Nice and slow, just like how you like it.” They didn’t kiss anymore that mid-cycle. No words were exchanged as they held onto each other. The Praxian admired the new frame that was filling out, even though there was still a bit of plating that hung loosely from his frame. He was nuzzled by the Polyhexian before he settled his helm on his shoulder. The pair had remained in the comfortable silence before Jazz sat up with his field excited. Prowl sat up to see what got him so excited, “what’s wrong?”

“Well I wanted to go for a walk. I can’t transform yet; Ratchet wants me to get a bit more back to my size before transforming again. Unless you want to stay here, then we could watch movies and make energon.” Jazz stood up with a smile and pulled the Praxian onto his peds. He bit the back of a digit with a nervous hum. “Prime’s been coming over and we’ve been doing work. It’s been weird to think that I’ve been sitting at a desk for eight groons but can’t be helped.”

The Praxian put his servos on top of the black servos to get him to calm down. “Jazz, you do not have to force yourself to do anything that will make you uneasy.” The visored mech took a calming intake before nodding in agreement. There was a sudden banging sound on the front door which got Jazz to jump a few feet into the air and hid behind the Praxian. “Hey, it’s okay stay here.”

Prowl left Jazz alone, but he was quick to be tailed by the Polyhexian and opened the door to see Bluestreak in a panic. “Ja- oh Prowl! No, don’t have time. Jazz, you need to see this! It’s the twins.” The other Praxian rushed to the living room and turned on the holoscreen to a news channel that was from Kaon. On the screen was Ricochet standing in front of a podium with Skids standing behind his brother. Jazz sat down with a servo going to his gaping mouth as he plopped down on the couch. Prowl slowly sat beside him with Bluestreak sitting on the corner of the table.

_“You can’t be serious! You would risk your enter city, your treaty with Vos, all because of your lust for revenge!? None of our cities are capable of denting their defenses! King Cog, if you send anything that closely resembles an army, we will all die! The Prime has given me council, if I can convince him to form a union with our people, we can have what we wanted without fighting. It’s a new era, let us do what we believe, know, is right for the good of our people.”_

_Skids stepped forward which shocked everyone in the room. He was silent for a bit; he gave the council an intense stare. “He wants to kill off the youth, the slaves, the Kaonites because he doesn’t want any of us to know that his only creation is just like us. He sparked his slave as punishment for speaking out of line. And when the sparkling was ripped from his arms, he slaughtered him to teach him a lesson. Almost 85 percent of the gladiators in the pits are Kaonites. You want to have equal rights with our people, then you need to treat us as equals! You are losing confidence in your lords.”_

_King Cog rose to his peds with his fists slamming onto the surface in front of him. “Lord Ricochet silent your slave this instant.”_

_“I will do with Skids how I want. You are holding our people back by having the same mindset as the tyrant Megatron. You only want him silent because you don’t want the world to know who you really are!” Ricochet rose his servos in the air before several huge holograms appeared behind them. There were recordings of what the leader of Kaon was being accused of, and then images of plans to get rid of the youth center. King Cog’s tough stature faltered when there was a collection of whispers. “You will give me three solar cycles to convince the Prime and his council that we are more than energon thirsty maniacs.”_

_“Or what? You have never fought in the Great Wars. You will learn your place Ricochet Mei-” King Cog pointed his arm at the Polyhexian in front of him with his arm transforming to show off a large canon._

_Ricochet stood confidently just as nearly a thousand mechs and femmes stood from the crowd with lasers pointed at the gear covered mech. There was a rule that the only ones that could carry weapons in the council room were guards, but those not a part of Ricochet and Skids’s group looked to be genuinely scared to see so many bots with weapons. “I may not have fought in the wars alongside my creators, but I prepared our city for a peaceful time without needless deaths. Like I said King Cog, times are changing. There is no room for royalty. You wanted to see proof of loyalists, well is this enough proof!?”_

_Skids reached down for his thigh and held up his sign of Ricochet’s ‘ownership’. He smashed it on the podium with his engines roaring. “Slave free Kaon!” There was a roar of mechs and femmes that joined the Praxian. When the camera switched to Ricochet’s face the screen went black saying there were some technical difficulties._

Jazz looked at Bluestreak and Prowl with worry in his field, and neither of them had enough time to calm him down before he rushed into his room. Prowl waited a bit before going after the Polyhexian. He cracked open the door slightly and saw him pacing his room.

::And you two are okay? They aren’t going to send the enforcers for you?:: He asked a few more questions as he gnawed at his digits.

::We’re really fine Carrier. The manor and _Twisted Spark_ are secured, but if it gets too heated here, I’ll go to one of the safe houses in Praxus or something. Benefits of not being considered a citizen in Kaon; enforcers have no jurisdiction to travel districts just to drag me back to Kaon. Rico is rushing the moves of the others; he’s sending families all to Iacon since he bought one of the larger properties. I know we said we’d like to show you everything, but it’s way too dangerous for a visit.:: It was a holovid of Skids on Jazz’s datapad.

Jazz gave out a stressed whine before sitting down on the floor in front of his berth. ::You promise you’ll comm me the second either of you are in trouble? I wish I had a way to get you both here without causing so much hassle.::

::I promise. I should sign off, T needs help with escorting Polyhexian younglings to Polyhex and Helix. Thankfully they all have families waiting for them. Love you, I’ll try to pop over for a visit.:: Skids bid his farewell before the screen went black. Prowl waited a few more kliks before slowly making his presence known.

The visored mech sat up straighter when his lover joined him on the floor. “Sorry for bolting, I just wanted to… check on someone.” Jazz didn’t know if he should mention or even talk about his sons or not.

“I hope they are prepared for retaliation from those that do not side with them. If you’d like, I can have an escort put on Skids for his protection. Praxus has a law about unmated Carriers that Skids may not know about.” Prowl kept his tone coolly to avoid glitching. He had gotten chewed out by his brothers before his future sister-in-law chewed him out for how he handled finding out. He understood logically why Jazz didn’t tell anyone, but it hurt him emotionally to have missed Skids’s entire sparklinghood. He also took blame for not reading the datapad like he was supposed to, if he had then Skids would have known his Sire and Ricochet would have gotten help with his telepathy.

Jazz tapped Prowl’s shoulder to get his attention. “Prowl did you hear what I said?” The blank stare was all the visored mech needed to know that he had indeed not heard him. “I said ‘you would do that?’”

“Of course, he is… important to you.” Prowl avoided the c-words and the s-words as much as possible because so much as mentioning the words his glitch would start up. Jazz nodded and the Praxian could feel him pull back slightly. He could see the hurt in his face when he would acknowledge his son. The Praxian stood up and pulled the other onto his peds as well. “There’s a festival going on at the end cycle. I don’t have to work, and Smokescreen’s future mate would like to re-meet you.”

The Polyhexian smiled softly and nodded at the silent offer. “I would like to meet her again and go on a date with you.” He hugged Prowl to secretly hide the fact that his legs still weren’t strong enough to hold his weight. Prowl’s arms wrapped around his waist and they just stood there with their faces hidden in their necks.

After several more days of recovering, Jazz was finally given the okay to return to work. He enjoyed re-meeting Vera and a few of the others in the building. Jazz had been taken to where he had been working, across the room from Optimus, and found it hilarious unlike how he figured he did the first time. Optimus was a bit confused by the burst of laughter, but Jazz just said it was an inside joke between him and Prowl. The Prime enjoyed seeing his friend happy until he started shifting around uncomfortably.

“What’s wrong Jazz?”

“Stupid wings keep popping out by themselves and they are hella sensitive.” Jazz stood up and his small wings stood at attention, twitching non-stop. Optimus was taken aback by the small appendages that were protruding from his friend’s back. The Polyhexian tried to reach for the shaking monochrome wings, but they were just out of reach. “Hey Prime, could ya um… help coax these suckers down?”

The large mech went over to his friend and awkwardly massaged the quivering wings back into their place. Jazz released the gasp that he had been holding and collapsed into his chair. “Have you thought about just letting them out? Maybe it would help their sensitivity.” Optimus suggested, but Jazz’s firm stare gave him, the Prime knew that his friend wasn’t playing around. He returned the gaze with one of his own. “You will have to get used to them at some point.”

“I will blame you if I crash from a sensory overload.” Jazz pointed a digit at him with a playful flicker of his field as he let his wings open up. He shivered violently and hit his helm against his desk whenever someone entered and left the office. “Frag. Me.”

Optimus gave a sympathetic smile at his friend’s pain. “Why don’t you head home for the day Jazz?”

The Polyhexian sat up with his winglets flicking, “what? No, I’m fine Prime.” His wings started twitching more as he focused back on his terminal with his chin resting in his servo. Optimus decided that he would just let his friend work until he decided that he truly needed it. Jazz was focused on a document that he was reading about a building contract on an academy to train Autobots until he felt something cause his wings to twitch. He looked up and jumped onto his peds with his wings flared and field exploding in surprise. “Ricochet! What are you doing here?”

The Carrier hugged his son with a happy purr of his engines. Ricochet returned the hug with one arm before revealing the small sculpted crystal that he had hiding behind his back. The younger Polyhexian looked highly uncomfortable as his Carrier took the gift with suspicion. “It’s a dark ingot, you said you really liked them. And… Vos said he wanted you to have it as a gift from the both of us.” He rubbed the back of his helm with his field rippling how uncomfortable he was with this.

Jazz looked at it and then up at his son with a smile on his face. “Thank you, Rico. You were so young when I mentioned that, I’m surprised you even remembered. Usually you wait till I’m back home to visit me.”

“I remember slag I shouldn’t. As for coming here, I had a meeting with Optimus and figured I should bring the ingot with me. I would have brought Vos with, but he… doesn’t like crowds.” The lord knew they knew the real reason for him not being with him, but he also didn’t want to be reminded of it.

Optimus stood from his sit and joined their sides, putting a servo on Jazz’s shoulder to get his attention. “I hate to interrupt, but this meeting is rather important. I’ll try to keep it short though.”

Jazz nodded as he sat the deep purple ingot on his desk with a smile. “Alright. Thank you for the surprise visit Co, I really appreciate it.” He hugged his oldest creation one more time before watching them head for the door. “Oh, and Rico?”

“Yes?” He turned to look at his Carrier with almost glimmer of hope in his posture.

“I approve of you both.” Jazz smiled genuinely with his wings fluttering behind him. Ricochet perked up with almost what could be labeled as a smile appeared on his lips.

When Jazz returned home he was greeted by Ironhide waiting for him at the door. He had a weird feeling in his field, and he stopped in his tracks, “Hide? What’s with the creepiness? Can I go inside, or do we have a password into the clubhouse?”

“So, when were you going to tell me that you were back? I was chatting with Teletraan and saw you appear in the system.” Ironhide had an amused grin and crossed his arms with a teasing vibe in his posture. Jazz’s wings flared and he heated up with embarrassment. He rubbed his wrists while he started stumbling over his words until the red mech grabbed his servos. “Kid, I’m just pulling your leg. I’m glad to see you back in the ranks.”

“Well, Blaster wanted to have a party at his place, and I didn’t want to flash the badge around.” Jazz looked to his right with a servo rubbing the back of his helm. “So, the Council’s talking to Ricochet? Who knew that my mental state was all it took for the two government powerhouses to cooperate enough to talk?”

After getting an answer Ironhide had dragged him inside. They went into the kitchen to get some energon while continuing the conversation. “Yeah, got to hand it to you, kid knows how to string words together. He also is stubbornly determined like his Carrier. Even slipped up and called Blaster ‘uncle’ before clamming up again.”

Jazz grabbed the glasses for Ironhide to fill them up at the dispensary. He folded his arms on the counter with a lost smile. “Rico was always my thoughtful talker, he loved reading about politics. I guess something he got from… him, but he loved it. I know he may look and act tough, probably could be mistaken as a Decepticon in the sense of his actions, but he is so sweet. Rico is just putting up his front because he’s scared of his telepathy.”

“I can tell he cares about the people; he makes it obvious whenever we do see him public speak. Why doesn’t Skids do it?” Ironhide handed one of the glasses and drank his energon. “He seems to be just as dedicated to freedom fighting.”

Jazz sipped his before answering, “Skids is well… he has his spark set on music, but I’m afraid of what his glitch will be a common occurrence if he joined politics. As for him and Prowl, it’s… complicated. Whenever Prowl came to visit me in the hospital, Skids had come to visit a couple times, and when they locked optics he was quick to apologize and leave. It hurts to see it, but… I can’t help it. Prowl is at least acknowledging their existence now.”

“Well Prowl’ll grow up eventually. You plan on telling him about the rejoining before the grand reveal?” The red mech joked and Jazz laughed with him.

“I think I’ve given Prowler enough surprises to last him a lifetime.” Jazz snickered as he finished his energon. “Hey, you knows I’ve been a decent enough mood to throw a Jazz-style party.” He flashed his visors in a wink. Ironhide shook his helm with a laugh.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz and Prowl work on their relationship. Ultra Magnus ruins the mood.

Ch. 27

“Jazz, it’s so nice to see you again!” Sunray hugged the startled Polyhexian until she saw his quivering winglets. “Oh, Smokescreen told me he gave your frame a donation. They’re so cute.” She turned him around slightly and hovered her servos over them. They continued to quiver while he chuckled nervously.

Prowl’s wings started shaking as he could see his future mate’s uneasiness with Sunray gushing over him. He did tense and had to restrain himself from yanking Jazz away when she was fawning over his wings. Smokescreen noticed his brother’s cold stare on his mate. He touched her elbow to get her attention, “Ray dear, his wings are still super sensitive. And I don’t think Prowl will be able to hold himself much longer.”

She looked up and saw the absolute restraint Prowl was giving. The femme gave Jazz some space. “Oops, I’m sorry Jazz. I was just so excited to see you again.”

“N-N… _ahem_ … no problem. I didn’t even want them displayed, but Prowler keeps telling me that it’ll help me.” He held onto his lover’s servo in hopes the contact would help with his wings. The Polyhexian smiled and looked at the three Praxians, “so what are we doing first?”

“Well we were thinking about showing you to the different sweet shops or maybe the music hall.” Smokescreen threw a digit over his shoulder and then behind Prowl and Jazz to show him that they were in different directions. “Could compare your awesome treats to theirs.”

Jazz’s face heated up and he looked away with an embarrassed smile. “Oh, stop it Smokey. What I make isn’t that fancy.”

“Oh, stop it and take the compliment. Before Sunray learned a few of your recipes, the boys on the track got _super_ jealous cause I got such amazing treats from an out of towner.” Smokescreen teased the Polyhexian further. Jazz was embarrassed, but his winglets fluttered in the compliment.

“Jazz, you’ll have to tell your sons thank you so much for their generous donation. They brought new toys for the youth center and helped pay what we needed to expand it.” Sunray took his servo briefly before pulling away again.

The Carrier’s wings fluttered at the compliment and he smiled proudly. “They’ve told me a lot of what they’ve down around Cybertron. Skids said that they even donated credits to the science center for Preceptor and Wheeljack’s project.”

“I’m telling you V; Rico doesn’t want you to change your looks.” Jazz’s audio horns picked up Skids’s voice and he looked around rapidly for sight of his son. He broke off from the group and ran off to find Skids. He was nearing the shopping district before he saw Skids standing in front of a window with a tall lanky mech. The Polyhexian full on tackled Skids with a smile. The Praxian, on the other servo, jumped and screamed in surprise. He turned and saw his Carrier smiling happily on his arm. “C-Carrier, what are you doing in Praxus?”

“Well I’m on a double da-” he looked over his shoulder and saw that he had lost his group. “Okay… I was on a double date with your uncle and Sire, but I heard you and I got a bit carried away. Guess my legs are working fine again. What are you doing here?”

Skids chuckled at his Carrier’s silliness, “well V and I came here looking for gifts cause I assume you heard the good news. Oh, Vos this is my Carrier. Carrier, this is Vos.” He gestured at the two with a bit of caution. Vos started clicking and buzzing, but Skids luckily translated for him. “He says it’s a pleasure to meet you and that he apologies for not obeying the proper courtship laws.”

“I’ve heard of his team during the war, and Rico speaks highly of you. And don’t apologize about the courtship laws, I never followed them. And the crystal was beautiful by the way, thank you.” Jazz smiled at the taller mech sweetly. “Just remember I am ex-ops and if either of you hurt my sons, I’ll make you both disappear.”

Skids yelped and pushed his Carrier on the shoulder, “Carrier! I don’t want them scared of leaving Kaon!” While he was apologizing to the sniper, Vos threw his helm back in static laughter. He gestured at Jazz and then at his guide while clicking. “He says that the day he hurts us is the day the world ends. Out of his team, him and Tarn are the saner ones.”

“Jazz! Jazz!” Smokescreen called out and the three Praxians broke through the crowd. Prowl was about to hug his future mate in relief that he was okay until he saw the ex-Decepticon standing near him. Out of habit he went for his holstered blaster which caused Vos to hiss in retaliation.

The visored mech quickly jumped in and grabbed Prowl’s white servos. “Woah there cowboy, it’s okay. He’s not going to hurt anyone. Vos, calm down it’s okay.” He looked at the black mech before looking at Prowl.

Skids grabbed the slender mech’s arm and twitched his wings. “Vos, come on I should take you back to Kaon.”

Vos clicked some more before looking at Prowl with his optics narrowed. “Autobot… never… forgives.”

Skids transformed an opened his door for Vos to transform and fly into the trunk. He took off and Jazz sighed in disappointment. The Polyhexian pressed himself into Prowl’s chest. Smokescreen took Sunray up ahead, knowing when a couple needed to be left alone. “I’m sorry Jazz, I didn’t mean to react like that. I just have heard so much about the DJD and my coding is already on edge, and I know that it’s no excuse.”

“Prowl, Skids had those two in his life while we weren’t. If he trusts them, then we have to too.” Jazz looked up at the mech with a slight pout before going back to leaning against him. “I’m a terrible Carrier, I should have trusted my friends to protect them from the Decepticons. It’s just was hard you know? I had an entire army, a Prime that depended on me to help them and be there for them, but when I had Skids and Ricochet it was absolutely different. Here I have two little lives that looked up to me to care for them and protect them, they survived thousands of intrusions from Shockwave and his drones, recovered hundreds of virus attacks, one was nearly eaten by scraplets, and the other suffers from a memory loss glitch. And every solar cycle I stole materials, energon that the team needed to make sure they had everything they needed.”

The Praxian cupped his cheeks and stared into his visors in silence until Jazz took deep intakes to bring his stress down. “Good, now listen to what I am about to tell you. No one can fault you for wanting to protect them. The variables on how the crew would react or treat them, especially Ricochet is unknown. They turned out to be very proud and mature mechs, they were there to protect you for the twenty years I wasn’t.”

Jazz leaned into the touch with a thankful flick of his field. “Thanks Prowler, I needed that. I think I’m ready to continue our date, but maybe… we could continue it alone? I love Smokey don’t get me wrong, but sometimes he’s too much even for me.”

“Imagine being related to him. If you wish, I could take you to the enforcers’ private race track and we could do a few laps without the showoff.” The Praxian offered with a gesture of his wings. Jazz smiled and took Prowl’s servo while the mech told his brother a change of plans. They walked the entire way to the Praxian enforcer station, Prowl led him to the back after scanning into the system. “How are your wings? They stopped quivering.”

“They’re okay, still feel hella top heavy. I don’t even know what I’d do if I had full-sized wings.” Jazz laughed as he looked up at Prowl with a smile. Prowl looked down at the visored mech with a small smile. “I love your smile.”

The Praxian chuckled quietly and kissed the top of his helm until a smile appeared on his face. “And I love your smile. Shall we start our drive?” The Polyhexian nodded with excitement. “Would you like to take the lead?”

Jazz smiled and transformed once they got on the tracks. He got a few feet before he heard the familiar roar of Prowl’s engine behind him. The smaller vehicle revved and sped off with lighthearted laughs. They did nearly a dozen laps before Prowl suddenly transformed and pounced on the startled Porsche. Jazz spun and transformed, landing on his back with a surprised sound. There was no words exchanged until Prowl leaned in close to Jazz’s face. “Do I have permission to kiss you?”

“Yes.” He answered softly.

Prowl leaned in closer before stopping again, “do I have permission to touch you?” Jazz started shaking and quickly shook his helm. The Praxian climbed off of Jazz and pulled them both on their peds. Once Jazz was upright, Prowl gave him some space to allow the Polyhexian to ground himself. “I apologize if I frightened you.”

“I-It’s okay. I just… public display-” Jazz didn’t say much, but he could tell that Prowl understood. He also knew that Prowl was giving him space and would let him near on his own time. “I would still like that kiss.”

The Praxian smiled and closed space between them before kissing his lips softly. Prowl went to pull away, but Jazz moved closer and grabbed his servos. He took the hint and let Jazz continue the kiss until he was done. Jazz pulled away with a shy smile on his lips, “your wings are shaking Jazz.” The visored mech looked over his shoulder to see that they were shaking violently. “Would you like to walk off the charge?”

“Yes.” He needed to talk to someone about the internal battle he was having over interfacing and public affection. Prowl noticed that Jazz was awfully quiet, but he wasn’t going to force him to talk unless he wanted too. “Thank you for the race, even if now I need to repaint my backside.” Jazz playfully teased.

“I apologize for that; I couldn’t help myself.” Prowl was genuine with his apology. They stopped at a café and got energon with little to no negative interaction from the rest of the citizens. “Jazz, I was thinking perhaps when you are fit and ready perhaps you would like to move in with me.”

The visored choked on his energon and started coughing into a napkin that Prowl had quickly given him. Once he was under control again, Jazz was extremely embarrassed for his reaction. “I’m sorry Prowler, I just was caught off guard by the question. I… I need to think about it. I hope you understand.”

“I do.” Prowl took his servo and gently caressed the back of it. Jazz lifted their servos to his face and kissed Prowl’s digits. “I love you Jazz.”

The Polyhexian purred softly, “I love you too Prowl.” They continued their date with them going for a walk through the shopping district, then they walked through the crystal gardens, and then finished with Prowl and Jazz standing in front of Prowl’s home. The two mechs looked at each other and then at the door. “Alto.”

Prowl opened the door and led Jazz inside with an arm’s length between them. Jazz looked around and chuckled softly at how organized everything was. He stopped in the middle of the hall when a holoimage caught his optics. “That was the first Christmas you demanded gifts to be exchanged between us. I still have the gift you gave me that day.” Prowl pulled Jazz out his recollection of the memory. The visored mech looked at him with a smile.

“Really? I still owe you an explanation on the meaning behind the pieces.” Jazz pressed himself against the larger frame. He pointed at the holoimage of Jazz smiling upwards with a crystal cube that had different cuttings that came together in the middle. “They are all pieces of crystals that were common only in Tarn, Helix, and Praxus. It took me a few tries to get it right, but I managed to combine them into a hybrid to show that even though they are different they can come together to form something beautiful. That’s what I taught them since they were little. You and I are so different, but when we come together we make something beautiful.”

The Polyhexian turned around and pressed into Prowl’s frame. Prowl pressed closer with his servos slowly moving up Jazz’s arms as he leaned in close to the mech before stopping. “I want you to say star if you become uncomfortable.” He whispered into Jazz’s receptor, seeing the small nod coming from him, but for Prowl that wasn’t enough. “What do you say when you are uncomfortable?”

“S-Star,” Jazz answered softly before feeling Prowls lips pressed against his jawline. He shook with small gasps when the kisses moved down to his neck cables. Prowl pulled Jazz away from the wall and continued leading them down the hall. The Praxian pulled away just briefly before kissing the Polyhexian’s lips with firm pressure. Jazz gasped softly when he felt Prowl’s deft digits slowly grab his servos and lifted them to the bottoms of his wings. “P-Prowl.”

“Are you wanting me to stop?” He asked and the visored mech shook his helm. Prowl pushed his berth room door open and led Jazz to his berth. “And now?”

Jazz looked up with his frame pressed against Prowl’s and his winglets popping out of their places. He shivered violently from the sensors activating, but he pressed his lips back onto Prowl’s. The Praxian smiled as they kissed again with their servos move across their backs. Jazz whimpered when Prowl laid him on the berth and knelt in front of his dangling legs. “Prowler.”

Prowl’s wings twitched and he felt Jazz’s field and took the hint that the Polyhexian reached his limit. He pulled away and pulled him upright, “I will go get energon.”

Jazz just stared as the Praxian retreated. He fell backwards with a disappointed groan. The Polyhexian couldn’t believe how terrible that went, even his spark was screaming at him for being an utter idiot. Jazz looked around the room after his little moment and saw that Prowl’s quarters were just as empty as the one he had on the ARK or in the base in Iacon. “Oh, Prowl you could’ve had a family right now if you had just moved on.”

“I did not want to move on,” Prowl’s voice startled Jazz out of his thoughts. The Praxian had two glasses of energon. He held out one of the glasses for the silent mech; Jazz took it with a soft thank you and started sipping it gently. “I want you and only you Jazz. My spark and my processor have never agreed on anything before I had met you.”

The monochrome Praxian took Jazz’s empty servo and placed it on his chest, getting him to look up at him with a small ‘o’ forming on his lips. “I can feel your spark.” Jazz looked down at his chest with a smile appearing a little bit. He sat his glass down on the window sill and put his servos on Prowl’s hips. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

Prowl nodded even though he assumed the statement was for Jazz rather than him. The visored mech moved one of Prowl’s servos to his hip as he stood on the tip of his peds to get closer to him. Jazz deactivated his visors as their lips barely touched. Prowl sat his glass next to Jazz’s so he could grab both sides of his waist. The Polyhexian quickly put a stop on the white servos that were trying to move upwards. Prowl respectfully kept his servos where Jazz wanted them. The visored mech took two steps forward, forcing the winged mech to take two back. This happened until Prowl made a soft grunting sound when the back of his legs hit the berth.

Jazz finally pulled away and looked behind Prowl with a nervous ex-vent. Prowl slid a servo up to his face and brought himself down to Jazz’s level and kissed him gently again. The Polyhexian pushed the Praxian onto his back and climbed on top of him with a smile. He sat up straight with his servos planted firmly on Prowl’s chest, “I’m going to grind against you with my plating closed.”

“Would you like my plating closed?” Prowl questioned and Jazz nodded before he slid his hips forward. The Polyhexian bit his lips when his sensors lit up from the contact. He leaned forward and rolled his hips harder and Prowl groaned when his sensors were activating. Jazz pressed himself firmly against Prowl and grounded harder. “Jazz, you are teasing me.”

“Your wings don’t seem to mind.” Jazz leaned down and kissed one of the panels while grinding harder. The Polyhexian looked down and heated up with embarrassment which got the Praxian to look to see what got a shy smile from the other. Jazz’s plating was still closed but there was lubricant leaking out from behind the plating. “I didn’t mean to get us dirty.”

“My calculations on whether you would become aroused or not were correct.” Prowl reached up and touched his face. “Now I’m going to flip us around with your back to me, I will touch your wings very gently, and I will overload you twice. What is your safe word?”

Jazz heated up at just imaging what Prowl was planning on doing to him. He nodded with a smile plastered on his face, “star.” After he answered the question Prowl slowly switched their positions and lifted Jazz’s waist up so his aft was pressed against Prowl’s pelvic plating. The Polyhexian was shivering with anticipation until white digits curled carefully around the tops of his winglets. Jazz gripped the thermal blanket with a surprised gasp. Prowl continued running his digits along the outside of the shivering and fluttering winglets in his hold. He knew from personal experience that wings were super sensitive, especially if they were young or recently repaired.

“What I am doing is telling your wings that I intend to cherish, love, and respect them. Touching the outlining of your wings represents friendship, touching the tips like this,” Prowl touched the corners which elicited a shiver from the mech under him, “represents trust and companionship. Allowing me to touch them like this shows that you trust me even if you can’t say it out loud. And when I run my servos along the surface of your panels, it means that you trust me to have your back and protect you.”

Jazz gasped hard when the digits skimmed across the panels. He pressed hard against Prowl with his buried into the thermal blanket. “P-Prowl.”

“Yes?” Prowl questioned but kept his ministrations on the quivering wings. The visored mech opened his mouth to say something, but his voice box gave out and he overloaded hard. Prowl didn’t dare move and startle the Polyhexian; Jazz’s visors flickered on and the wings fluttered again. “Are you alright Jazz? You overloaded awfully hard.”

“Mmm, yes. That was _fantastic._ ” He didn’t have much strength in his limbs and what strength he did have he used to roll over to face the Praxian. Prowl saw the post overload expression on his lover face and was glad to know that Jazz loved it so much. “I don’t know if I could go again.”

Prowl shook his helm and kissed the mech’s cheek plate, getting a happy purr from him. “It is alright.” They just started cuddling before someone knocked on the front door. Jazz sat up quickly with Prowl reaching for his blaster that he had sitting on his nightstand. He touched his shoulder to calm him down, “stay here, I’ll see who it is.”

The Polyhexian nodded and went to the door to see who was at the door. “You can’t decide for him. It’s just one hearing. Prowl, Jazz has to testify against Soundwave.”

 _Testify against Soundwave? He’s not dead yet?_ Jazz stepped outside the room, forgetting that his plating was still slightly stained from their activity that was interrupted. At the door was Ultra Magnus with Prowl crossing his arms. The taller mech noticed the Polyhexian and tried to avoid looking down at the plating. “I’ll go if it means he rots in prison and I get to rub it in his face that I belong to nobody but myself.”

“Jazz, are you sure? You don’t have to do any of that.” Prowl took his servo with a worried expression.

“I just want him out of my life for good. I want him out of my sons’ lives, I want to be able to recharge without thinking that if I online my visors all of this had been a dream.” Jazz looked at Prowl with determination. “If reliving my Hell for even a few kliks means that bastard goes down permanently then I will go there.”

A defeated sigh escaped him, “I will be coming with because you are brave now, but I predict a thirty-five percent chance that you will become scared.”

“Soundwave’s trial will be in two solar cycles.” Ultra Magnus informed the Polyhexian. The visored mech nodded before he gave his goodbyes.

Jazz looked at the retreating mech before looking up at Prowl. A purr escaped him, and he closed the door to get the Praxian’s attention. “I recall a certain Praxian telling me that he was going to get two overloads out of me.” Prowl gave the shorter mech a skeptical look, but Jazz pulled him close to his frame with a mischievous smiled. “Please Prowler, I want you again.”

“Do you really want to continue?” He questioned the Polyhexian while being pinned against the door.

“I am going to open my plating,” Prowl assumed it was Jazz’s pelvic plating, but he was stunned when he watched the monochrome chest plate split open in front of him. “I’m going to take your servo and I will let you play with my spark. Because I trust you with my spark.”

Prowl never hesitated in his life, but he did when his servo was lifted to the exposed spark. He watched tendrils of spark energy coiled through his digits and got explicit sounds from the mech. The Praxian remembered the time they played with their sparks the one and only time, and the results of it. He pressed his chevron against Jazz’s helm with a shaky ex-vent. “Jazz, I love you.”

“I love you too Prowl,” he kissed Prowl softly with a groan of pleasure.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jazz and Soundwave talk followed by Jazz seeing his sons in action

Ch. 28

Skids was showing a few of their latest rescues how to defend themselves with a blade when the door to _Twisted Spark_ opened up. The rescues froze in panic but calmed down when Tarn walked in with his servo firmly placed on Smokescreen’s shoulder. “Found him snooping around Kaon by himself. The imbecile should have known better than to roam around a place so dangerous.” The purple mech leaned in close to the Praxian’s face with one of his servo gripping his chin while Smokescreen was bravely glaring in his direction. “Especially while flashing such a hideous symbol.”

“Okay Tarn, my uncle gets it.” Skids rolled his optics as he walked over to the bar and heaved a pair of large cannons on the bar top. “All gunk free, upgraded, and polished for you.”

“Ah perfect my little nightingale. You are as radiant as the suns of Nebulos.” Tarn released the Praxian as he went straight for his double fusion cannon. He attached them with a pleased up before looking at the embarrassed Praxian. “Why are you heated up my _dear nightingale_?”

The Praxian pressed his servos against the thick purple midsection with a blissfully distant expression on his face. “You’re talking to my spark. Primus Tarn,”

“Ugh, get a room.” Ricochet walked out of a room with Vos tailing him. Smokescreen was staring at the scene with a dumbfounded expression. “They always do this after we realign our spark or a hunt. What are you doing here by yourself? Are all Iaconians this dumb or is it just the ones related to the aft?” Ricochet started pouring two glasses of energon.

Smokescreen flared his wings and marched over to the Polyhexian and pointed a digit in his face. “I will not have you disrespect my family again; do you hear me Ricochet? My brother may be slow when it comes to emotions and feelings, but he loves Jazz more than he has ever put his spark into. He had suffered all his life before meeting your Carrier and then suffered more when we all fragged up when we thought the worst of Jazz. Prowl is a much better mech than Soundwave has or ever will be. And I know if my idiot brother had done what he should’ve all those cycles ago, he would have seen to it that you had the proper sparklinghood and care you both needed while Jazz was away.”

The Polyhexian stopped pouring the high grade with an optical ridge raising. He sat it down and took a sip of the drink before casually shrugging. “Okay. I’ll give the idiot a chance. Not like I can force my Carrier to find someone else, he’s dead set on him. At least Prowl is making an effort into making him happy. How’s far along is your mate?” Smokescreen’s optics widened slightly, but Ricochet pointed to his temple. “Telepathic remember? Blaster really needs to teach you how to block your thoughts out; you think so loudly some times.”

“She is in her second trimester.” Smokescreen answered with a defensive cross of his arms.

Ricochet made a disinterested sound while waving a servo in the air. He held a glass out for Smokescreen. “Next time you wish to visit and tell us some boohoo news in Iacon then I suggest comming us.”

“Well I figured that know one would have told you until it happened, but there’s going to be a trial for Soundwave. And Jazz is going to testify against him.” Smokescreen got down to the point after taking the glass from the Polyhexian just before he dropped it. He looked absolutely shocked, even Skids waved a servo in front of his twin’s face.

Vos grabbed Ricochet’s face and started speaking with his words heavily accented with the clicking of gears. “Wear my face.”

“No, no, no wearing of the faces.” Ricochet finally snapped out of his shock. He didn’t seem phased by the sharp digits digging in his face. “I will be there to watch that bastard burn in the deepest pit he deserves. Skids, take your uncle back to Praxus before he gets himself killed or worse. Looks like I _get_ to say hello to my Sire.”

“Vos, remember the finer solar cycles when we could travel solar systems to find the traitors of the Decepticon cause? The thrill of the hunt, the sounds of screaming while the traitors begged?” Tarn spoke in that way to get the Praxians to move faster. When they were gone, Ricochet looked at both of the DJD members with a cold expression which got a confused chittering from his future bonded. “The Autobot was annoying me.”

The Lord waved it off and turned on the holoscreen that was in the corner just above the bar. It was muted but they were talking about the upcoming trials and Ricochet pointed at the screen just as Soundwave’s face popped up. “No, I have a little job for you both. We all want him dead, I’m willing to do a little proposition with _DJD leader_ Tarn and not my brother’s playmate.”

Tarn and Vos both looked up at each other, the idea of getting rid of Soundwave sounded just perfect to the both of them. Getting into his old role as a brutal mech that was also open to listening to business opportunities. “I suppose I can listen to what you have to say.”

In Iacon, Jazz bursted through the Council room while they were in the middle of discussing something important. He waved his servo and tapped a button on Optimus’s left which turned off the hologram of what they were discussing. “Scold me later Optimus, I would have waited but this could cause problems for Cybertron.” The Polyhexian started typing rapidly on the holographic keyboard and pointed at the hologram of a stasis pod that was being dug out by a construction crew. “Did ya’ll miss someone during the ride home? Or did a Decepticon miss the memo?”

“I know we got all of the Autobots safely back on Cybertron as for the Decepticons I know there are quite a few we have missed, but we have no way of locating them.” Optimus said before looking at his friend, “and Jazz why didn’t you comm me? Or wait for the meeting to finish?”

“Well if my Prime kept his comlink on then I would have, but since it’s making planetary news I _figured_ it was pretty important for ya’ll to know.” Jazz teased Optimus before gesturing at the rest of the Council members. He put his servos on his hips with a pretty sassy stance. “Should I go take a casual stroll over to the site and see who joined the party?”

The Prime looked at the others and Ultra Magnus was the one to answer, “it would ensure whoever is in the pod.” He suggested.

“Comm one of us if you find anything important.” Optimus had a friendly tone and Jazz saluted playfully before leaving hurriedly. He was excited to actually have something to do out of the building. The Polyhexian did a backflip into a transformation and zoomed off to hopefully get to the scene before anymore news crews got there. He transformed when he arrived to the scene; there was an enforcer barrier around the medics and the pod. The Polyhexian tapped the side of his visors and sent Blaster a request for an audio feed which the mech accepted. They couldn’t talk to Jazz, but they heard everything Jazz was hearing.

“Here on council business,” the Polyhexian told the enforcers as he walked through the barrier and went straight for the medics. “Hey Aid, so did ya get anything from sleeping beauty?”

“You seem really chipper Jazz. But, to answer your question no the pod is still in the defrost stage. Defensor was just able to steer it off course from crashing into the over bridge. Whoever this is has been in the pod for a long time or pretty large. May need to call for a transport.” First Aid sounded awfully concerned as to what to do.

Jazz shrugged with a smile, “just in a good mood is all. Why not just pop it?”

“Oh no not with cryostasis, speed it up too fast and the spark will extinguish.” The medic waved his servos with a shake of his helm. “We need to let whoever’s inside to come out at their own pace.”

The Polyhexian nodded before kneeling down beside the large silver pod, feeling the cold breeze rolling over his frame. “So, got any idea as to what side they’re on? If they are on one that is.”

“Well….-” First Aid was blatantly uneasy about something.

“Aiiiidddd?” Jazz stood up slowly.

“It’s like the bot doesn’t know. It keeps going back and forth! So, I don’t know where to send the pod.” The young medic rose his voice at the Polyhexian. First Aid stood in front of the pod while trying to scan whoever was inside it. “Well I could have them taken to the firehouse’s medbay. Blades installed a new internal defense system a while ago, that way we don’t stress patients at the hospital with the security and we don’t cause whoever is inside to panic in confusion by onlining in a prison hospital.”

Jazz nodded with a smile, “alright sounds like a solid plan. Aight, I gotta bounce and head back before Optimus decides to sneak his desk work into my things.” The Polyhexian and the Host mech both disconnected from the connection. Jazz returned to the Prime tower and went to his and Optimus’s office, when he entered the room he was pleasantly surprised to find a box on his desk. His winglets fluttered as he opened up it to reveal a whole bunch of items inside it. Inside there were a pair of silver Praxian glyph charms, a light green and pink crystal that was carved into an earth lily, some energon sweets, and some music chips. Jazz’s wings were fluttering even more as he sucked on the cube, loving how acidic they were. He commed Smokescreen about the charms.

::Hey, be quick about to race.:: The Praxian said hurriedly.

::Oh! Oh, sorry Smokey, it’s not important. I’ll ask later.:: Jazz didn’t want to distract the mech from any races. The Polyhexian disconnected and subspaced the items and got back to work until he was notified that his shift was over. _Wow, time really goes by fast_. His realization of what was going to happen next tomorrow which only brought up his worries and fears. “No, no I can do it. It’s for myself and my sons.”

“Jazz,” the Polyhexian turned to see Optimus standing near the door of their office, “are you okay?”

The visored mech quickly nodded with a slight forced smile. “Yeah, just… do I _have_ to go see that aft? Won’t that cause like some bad voodoo or something?” Jazz still didn’t entirely understand why he had to face Soundwave before his official trial.

“Unfortunately, with the circumstances we have to obey Tarn laws as well. We’ll make sure he’s secured Jazz.” The Prime assured which he knew was supposed to make him feel better, but he was still not sure.

The Polyhexian just nodded and bid his friend a good lunar cycle. He didn’t want to see the rusted mech, Pits he would rather be fragged by Metroplex than be forced to see Soundwave. A servo waving in front of his face drew him out of the trance he wasn’t aware he was in. Standing in front of Jazz was Ironhide who looked a bit worried, the visored mech quickly shook his helm. “Kid, you okay? You were just standing there.”

Jazz stared up at the red mech before his bottom lipped quivered slightly, but he didn’t cry. No, he refused to shed any more tears for the pit spawn. “I-I can’t do it Hide; I can’t face Soundwave. I can’t, what if he finds out about the twins? What if he breaks out?” Before the Polyhexian could put himself into a panic attack, the red mech pulled him in a calming hug. Jazz kept his helm down and they said nothing until the Polyhexian finally pulled away with a heavy ex-vent. “After the trial no more Soundwave?”

“No more Soundwave after the trial.” Ironhide shook his helm in agreement with his friend. He took Jazz to the kitchen and gathered the vase of high grade out of the large cooler and then two glasses. The visored mech smiled as he took one of the glasses, taking a quick swig of it. “So, what else is on your mind? You’ve been quiet when I ask about your dates with Prowl.”

The Polyhexian shifted before resting his chin in his servo, “Prowler wants me to move in with him once Ratch’ says I’m clear. And it just, “ he folded his arms under him with his servos holding his elbows, “last mech I was with romantically I was forced to be a house mate. I couldn’t do anything without going through him, I was expected to please him, get sparked until I literally couldn’t move. And I know Prowl wouldn’t force me to do any of that and none of the implants and stuff Soundwave put in me are there, but what if… what if I snap back to those times and I treat Prowl like I did Soundwave?”

“Well, I don’t know what you’re going through on a personal level, but all I can tell ya is to not worry about that anymore. If you do slip up by accident, Prowl will be understanding and help you through it. Listen more with this instead of this.” The red mech pointed to Jazz’s chest and then his processor. The Polyhexian snorted at his friend’s sappy statement; Ironhide waved him off with a scoff. “Yeah, don’t get used to it. If moving in with Prowl makes you happy, then when Ratchet says you’re all green lights we can talk to Optimus about letting you move. Speaking of Prime, he’s pretty excited about being a Sire.”

Jazz perked up with a smile and another swig of his high grade. “When I was sparked with the twins, I was an emotional rollercoaster, but I knew that I was so excited to bring them into the world. Elita and Optimus will make amazing creators.”

It was late in the lunar cycle when Jazz’s winglets started moving when the sound of something opening triggered them. He sat up in a startle and turned the lamp on the nightstand on. Skids closed the window and didn’t bother saying anything as he scrambled into his Carrier’s berth, holding onto him tightly. “Skids. Skids, what’s wrong? Why- are you crying?”

“We, I… Tarn, we- ah.” He grabbed his helm with his frame tensing up. Jazz quickly sat in a more comfortable position, wrapping them both in a thermal blanket. The Polyhexian rocked his youngest creation gently while softly humming to his receptor. Skids just leaned against his Carrier with his engines hitching and tears still falling down his face. Eventually, Skids calmed down from his potential crash and explained what happened. “Tarn and I were doing some of our normal routine, a-and… in the middle of it I was trying to tell him that I wasn’t comfortable. I-I told him red five times before Rico came storming in, and started hurting him. H-He tried to apologize after a while, but… I-”

Jazz rubbed his face and started comforting his creation with more humming. “Shh, deep intakes.”

Skids nodded as he tried to control his intakes, “I-I hit him in the face and then took off.” He covered his face with his wings shaking and he started crying more.

The Polyhexian did what he could to comfort the young Praxian as best as he could. He laid them down with Skids being held close to his frame, “it’s okay Skids, you’re okay. Listen, do you love and trust him?”

“Yeah, with all my spark. He’s never sung to my spark in painful ways, he’s protected me when Co couldn’t.” He looked up at his Carrier, looking into his visors. “I would spark bond with him if we wanted to. It’s just… Carrier, when you did… things romantically did you or someone get too into character? I know it’s really embarrassing, but Co doesn’t talk to me about that kind of stuff.”

“To answer your question, yeah sometimes I’ve gotten too into it and it would take a while to get out of the helm space. And don’t tell your Sire this, but sometimes he would give into his Enforcer coding. All I can say is to do something to draw your partner, in this case Tarn, out of that helm space. Mechs like Tarn are warriors and berserks, so showing signs of fear or panicking when they end up in that helm space will only feed into that emotion.” Jazz never thought he would be having an interface issue conversation with his creation.

The Praxian calmed down slightly with a few soft nods. Skids pulled away from his Carrier with a smile. His wings fluttered before standing up feeling much better. “Thank you for helping. I should head back and talk to him about it, huh?”

“It would probably be best. Were you injured at all?” Jazz repositioned himself on his berth. The blue mech shook his helm with a smile.

“Not too bad. Hey, we’re holding a fundraiser in a few solar cycles, over in Praxus to raise funds for the expansion of the crystal gardens!” Skids grabbed his servos with excitement. “You and Sire should come check it out?”

Jazz smiled at the invitation, “I would love to. Maybe give me a chance to get Prowl to stop working for a bit. Will your brother be there?”

“Yup, he’s one of the major donators. He’s even going to be giving a fancy speech.” He teased his absent brother. Skids hugged Jazz one more time before leaving him alone.

It was the day; Jazz was to face Soundwave after deci-vorns of mental torture and trying to recover. He looked over at Ironhide and then at Springer, trying to keep his winglets relax but he was extremely nervous. He shifted in the interrogation room with them in the corners. The Polyhexian shot up to his peds when Soundwave was being escorted by Blades and a mech that Jazz didn’t recognize. He kept his cool for about point five seconds before his winglets shot up and they were shaking behind him.

“Well hello _pet_ , you look beautiful. And the wings, will certainly look nice under my peds.” Soundwave teased the visored mech as he was being cuffed to the table.

“My name isn’t pet, it’s Jazz. And you don’t get to compliment me after everything you did to me!” Jazz smacked he table with a growl. Ironhide coughed to get him to calm down. The Polyhexian stiffly sat down and stared at the Decepticon with a deep frown. “What do you want from me Soundwave? I know it’s not an apology, because you are a sick mech that took everything from innocent bots. As the humans would say karma is a bitch.”

Soundwave kept calm as he looked the monochrome with a hum. “Megatron may be gone, but the Decepticons aren’t done. As long as there are mechs and femmes wearing the insignia and supporting the cause, Cybertron will never have peace. And when Galvatron with his armada come back, let’s just hope you remember how to suck spike.”

The Polyhexian kept his cool, knowing better than to let his emotions get ahold of him again. He sat up straight with a cool smile on his lips, “that old mech’s still kicking? I thought Megatron exiled him to the deepest of space since that betrayal back in the second attack of Vos? Optimus and everyone else have nothing to worry about, because they have me to help kick Galvatron’s aft.” Jazz rose to his peds and leaned forward with a grin. “And you get to rust away in the deepest hole in this prison. How are your little heathens by the way?”

This time Soundwave jerked in his spot with a loud growl, but the restraints held him in place. Jazz kept his servos curled around the seat of the chair as he looked into Soundwave’s visors. He was thankful that they were placed in a room that blocked any use of telepathy because the Soundwave can’t hear his sporadic thoughts; ranging from running away to get away from the intense stare and then jumping the table to kill Soundwave himself. “Tell me _pet_ , did you like your gift? The sparkling that deactivated? Or did your little Praxian toy not tell you?”

“We buried it in Praxus. I’m glad the sparkling will never have to see the likes of you in the well because you will be joining Unicron in the Pits.” The Polyhexian was done crying for Soundwave, done cowering from him, done letting the Decepticon have control over his life. “Now tell me for real why you asked to see me. I know it wasn’t to tell me about Galvatron and his brigade and it wasn’t to try and get reactions from me.”

Soundwave chuckled as he leaned forward slightly against the table. “When I get out of here, I am so going to enjoy breaking that spirit all over again. I will find everyone you love and care for, kill them or force them watch as I break you so hard that you will only know my name.” Jazz gripped the chair tighter as he thought of Skids and Ricochet forced to see their Carrier being forced into interface with that monster. “You know, _Jazz_ , I can tell when a mech has had creations. It wasn’t recent because your coding wouldn’t allow you to leave them. So that would mean it was a long while ago. And I do recall seeing a mech that looked an awfully like your pathetic Sire.”

“You stay away from them, you pit spawn!” Jazz knocked the chair over when he went to attack Soundwave, but Ironhide was quick to pull him away. “Let me go! He doesn’t deserve a trial! He deserves to suffer!”

“Them? So, there were more than one? Oh, I cannot wait to break them.” Soundwave internally smirked when he fired up Jazz again. His collar didn’t go off because he wasn’t attempting at attacking. “Do you think they would make good breedable stock? I do have to rebuild the Decepticon army somehow.”

Jazz was getting angrier by the second, and Ironhide dragged him out of the interrogation room. He blocked the door when Jazz spun around to go back in there. “Jazz, it’s what he wants. Don’t give him the satisfaction.” The visored mech punched the wall closest to him, leaving a sizable dent in it. “Remember he only saw _Meister_ , not his actual identity. They are safe and Optimus won’t let Soundwave within a mile of them.”

“And what about Galvatron? His entire team is still at large, with them still out there… I _can’t_ let any of them get Rico or Skids.” The Polyhexian’s anger was now getting replaced with fear. “Do you need me here still?”

“No, go home, get some rest.” Ironhide offered a supportive squeeze of his friend’s shoulder.

Jazz shook off the fear, pulling himself together and smiled up at his friend. “I was going to go visit the twins, I told them I was going to see _Twisted Spark_.”

“Alright then _be safe_ , Kaon is still Kaon.” Ironhide was answered with a snort before watching Jazz leave. He went back into the interrogation room, turning off the cameras and darkened the windows. Soundwave looked at Springer and Ironhide with confusion. “You like to hurt sparklings Soundwave? Hear that Springer?”

“Heard he likes to force heating protocols on younglings. You know, I think Soundwave needs to be taught a lesson.” Springer cracked his servos with a smirk.

Ironhide gripped the blue mech’s shoulder as he let out a mocking gasp, “you hear that? No one is going to come to _your rescue_.”

“You won’t get away with this.” Soundwave growled out.

“See that’s where you’re wrong. You see, in Newgate we can very well get away with almost anything. I could very well turn your collar on and say you were going to attack us. And you provoked my friend into breaking your face. What was that? You want a demonstration? Well rude of me for not providing, here I’ll show you.” Ironhide grabbed Soundwave’s helm and smacked it against the table. He pulled his helm back to see his visors cracked and dents starting to form on his face. Ironhide slammed Soundwave’s face in two more times. “See, provoked.”

Jazz stood outside the blue neon sign, he hadn’t stepped inside since he took the twins here, and it looked like it was lively from the amount bots lining up outside. A cough behind him caused the Polyhexian to jump and shout in surprise. “You are not the same Jazz from the war.” The visored mech turned around to see Tarn standing there with his face near his. “That Jazz would have heard a mech my size coming miles away. What are you doing here?”

“I came to see my sons. Didn’t realize that was a problem.” Jazz put his servos on his hips as he tried to look confident in front of the DJD leader. “I didn’t realize the great DJD leader was kicked down to errand boy.”

Tarn snorted before nudging Jazz towards the back of the building, “we’ll use the back entrance. Skids and Ricochet should be finished by now.” The went through a door that was labelled as ‘employees only’. It opened up to a room with insulated walls, a table with a few chairs near the door they entered from, a couch that was angled slightly to look up at a holoscreen that was mounted on the wall, and an energon dispenser pushed up against the wall behind the couch with a cabinet that Jazz assumed was only additives.

“Wait,” Jazz stopped Tarn from opening the other door, “how can I trust you didn’t do something to my sons? I know what your team were capable of, what you stood for, but how can I trust you haven’t done anything to them?”

“You can’t, but you also know that unlike many of my Decepticon comrades, I have standards. Skids wants me just like how Vos wants Ricochet. Without Vos and I, they wouldn’t have the ability to protect themselves and I have a way of stopping Skids’ glitch when it starts up.” Tarn reached down to touch Jazz, but the door was thrown open and a blue blur pushed past the large mech, and hugged Jazz tightly. “Speak of my Nightingale and he shows.”

Skids pulled away and looked at his Carrier with excitement before going back for a hug. “You really came! What are you doing here? I would have made Energon for you. Rico and Vos are off doing whatever.”

Jazz laughed as he peeled his son off of his frame. He was so happy that Skids still got excited over seeing him. The Carrier folded his wings down, not wanting to get overwhelmed by all the senses. “I wanted to come check out the bar, see if you two would put Halifax to shame with the décor. Also, because I needed a new change in pace that wasn’t Iacon.”

“Has nothing to do with Soundwave’s trial?” Tarn saw the slight tense in the Polyhexian. “We do get Iaconian channels.”

“And a lot of receptors from all of the mechs and femmes you saved.” Jazz crossed his arms.

Skids wrapped his arms around Tarn’s arm. Jazz saw how genuinely happy the Praxian was with the Decepticon. He knew what Tarn could do and how just one impulse, one thing to tick him off would trigger him into killing Skids. “We only have a few allies that work for the Council or the enforcers, but it’s more for their safety than our rebellion.” The Praxian gestured behind him with a smile, “well the club is empty except for employees. We were just cleaning up after a massive party last night. I’ll be picking out streamers from my armor for solar cycles.”

“A party?” Jazz tilted his helm as the three left the room. He looked around with a look of surprise by the décor of the main room. There was no sign of cages or poles on the stage, or splatters of questionable stains on the furniture. “Wow, it looks amazing.”

“Oh, thank you, it took forever to convince Ricochet to let me hire professional designers. He still thinks we were cheated out half a million shanix, but it was worth it.” Skids laughed before going behind the bar and grabbed three glasses of various sizes before turning his back to the pair while taking a couple bottles off the counter behind the bar. “You know Rico is going to want to go.”

“As long as he doesn’t hurt Soundwave during the trial, then you both can come. Though I would rather neither of you come at all. I don’t want Soundwave to see either of you.” Jazz folded his servos on the counter before noticing the green flecks embedded in the black countertop. “Woah, what is this? Emerald?”

Skids’ wings fluttered with an excited nod, “it is! Tarn said it would look nice under Energon. Want anything in your Energon?” He glanced at his Carrier as he scooped in a couple spoonfuls of silver into the larger glass of Energon, pushing it towards Tarn.

“Oh, just Energon. I have to be able to drive to Iacon before it gets too dark.” Jazz took the small cube of energon pushed to him. Skids started scooping in some silver followed by a couple tablets that released tiny air bubbles, turning the blue liquid into a deep purple. “So, Tarn tells me he’s been helping with your glitch?”

Skids choked on his drink as his face heated up in embarrassment at the question. He gave his lover the stink eye before answering thoughtfully. “Yeah, when it starts up and Rico or Data can’t get through to me, Tarn discovered that when he talks to my spark and it stops me from crashing. We tried medical treatments, but Data says that with the type of glitch I have, it wouldn’t be as effective as Tarn’s voice.”

“You sing to his spark?! Are you crazy? Skids, do you know what his voice could do? He-”

“He can manipulate sparks to the point of extinguishing them by speaking at the frequency of his target’s spark. I know and we know the dangers of it, but Tarn knows what he’s doing. And I trust him, Carrier please understand.” Skids set his glass down to hold onto the black servo in front of him. “I _need_ him.”

Jazz looked at the two mechs quietly before squeezing his son’s servo. “I do understand, I only ask you be careful. Both of you. And you, don’t hurt my son or I _will_ hurt you.” He pointed a firm digit at Tarn, completely unafraid of the DJD leader which actually amused the purple mech.

“Skids has nothing to fear while under my guidance.” Tarn’s words came across as a hum before drinking the energon giving to him so fast Jazz didn’t even see his mask being removed. “Ah, excellent as always Skids.”

The front door opened with Ricochet holding Vos in his sniper rifle and several collared bots were running behind him. Jazz jumped to his peds as Tarn and Skids rushed over to the two mechs. “These mecha are now under the protective act _Theta-542A_! Come any closer to this establishment, and I will open-fire. Skids get them in the back.”

“Ri-”

“Now!” Ricochet pulled the trigger when one of the slavers decided to charge. Jazz flinched when the banging sound brought back memories of him killing targets. “Everyone, follow Skids. Tarn, stop standing there and distracting my brother.”

Jazz looked between his sons before hurrying after Skids, seeing that the three had this taken care off. Skids opened a door behind the bar, pressing a button hidden under a shelf, and gesturing for the bots to run down the extending stairs. “What happened?”

“We had gotten word that some slavers captured a bunch of foreigners from Luna-1. We’ll answer more questions after we get them all settled in. Carriers and younglings follow Data, Sire mechs follow me.” Skids looked at them as he spoke with a hint of softness to emphasize that they were only trying to help. Jazz gasped as he looked around at the large underground bunker when they stepped through the doors at the bottom of the stairs. Data was in the middle of the room, waiting for them with a small crew of medics with him. They whisked their group of mechs and femmes to a row of berths along the wall to the left while Skids took the smaller group to the berths on the right. Jazz was in a state of shock that there was an entire medical center hidden under the bar. He saw Cybertronians of various races and sizes helping each other or being helped. There was a Minicon helping a large shuttle move their wings in the back of the room, there were a lot of red optics that were soothing and comforting patients.

“Carrier, can you come help me with these collars?” Skids’ voice pulled Jazz back to the present. Jazz hurried over and looked at the locking mechanism in confusion.

“They got a lot complicated since the last time I wore one.” He slowly tilted the bright red mech’s helm, clenching his denta when he saw the tiny needles lodged in the wearer’s neck cables. “Don’t they still have trackers?”

“Yeah, but this room is lined with field dampeners and jammers.” He answered the question before looking at the mech in front of him with a supportive smile. “Okay, this is going to pinch for just a klik, but hold still.” Skids grabbed a laser scalpel, running against the locking mechanism very carefully. Once the laser went through the thick metal, Skids quickly set the scalpel down and carefully pried the collar off. “No sign of rust or fluid leaks. Did they do anything to you? I need to know before connecting to examine your systems.”

The mech shook his helm before looking immediately at a mech that was staring back at him. “I was not desirable. My mate was targeted whenever I resisted.”

“Mate? Okay, can you feel him?” Skids asked while Jazz did the exact same thing his son had did.

“Yes, but weak. Will we be together?” The freed slave asked carefully.

Skids hooked up to the mech before smiling, “as soon as you both are cleared. As soon as we find an available deep space capable shuttle we’ll take you all back to Luna-1.”

Between Jazz, Skids, Data, and the other medics they managed to settle the group without much issue. It was a few groons before Ricochet, Vos, and Tarn made their way downstairs. The other visored mech stood in the middle of the room to get everyone’s attention. “Mechs and femmes, tonight we rescued a group from Luna-1. The corrupt power in Kaon is expanding outside of Cybertron! King Cog and his group of loyal senators think that if the turn a blind optic to the continued poverty of Kaon’s people and collaring those that don’t bow to his every whim, will gain them more followers!” There was an uproar of boo’s and angry engine revs. “But what I have that King Cog doesn’t, is respect! When the time is right and I have the support of the Iacon Council, we will fight! Fight for Kaon, fight for freedom, fight for a better tomorrow! We will take out the corrupt Kaon leadership at the head!”

Jazz saw those that booed just moments ago all cheer and some even stomped their peds in excitement. The Polyhexian and Praxian were joined by Ricochet sitting on one of the now empty berth in front of his brother. It wasn’t long before Vos pounced the mech’s back. “Are you okay? Won’t the enforcers come and question you?”

“I’m fine, and enforcers won’t question about me defending my business from a bunch of slavers. They’ll see it as self-defense.” Ricochet rubbed Vos’ servo while looking at his Carrier with a flash of a smile. “Sorry you had to see all that. I would have taken them to the manor, but the bar was closer.”

Vos started speaking before flicking his future bonded on the helm. Skids laughed and explained when he saw their Carrier’s confusion. “I guess Ricochet dropped Vos in a dumpster on their way to rescue the bots.”

“Well the spot light took me by surprise, and Vos was getting too heavy for me to continue holding.” Ricochet defended himself. He nodded at the group that were all huddled in a corner together. “They’re scared of all the red.”

“They will get through, just like I did. They will learn to not judge other mechanisms by the color of their optics.” Jazz assured his oldest creation. “And how is your training going with Blaster?”

The younger Polyhexian hummed before giving a slight shrug, “the thoughts are easier to block out. And how is your therapy going?”

“Good as ever I suppose.” There was silence before Jazz finally added on, “Prowl has asked me to move to Praxus with him. After I’m healed up and everything.”

The twins were both surprised by this, but it was Skids who asked the follow-up question. “Are you going to? To move in with Sire?”

Jazz folded his arms as he hummed in thought. He had once fantasized about living in Praxus with Prowl, raising a family with him, but now it was different. His creations were adults, Jazz was thinking about being an Autobot once more, and Praxus was way out the way of seeing his sons. Ricochet shrugged Vos off his arm as he stood with a white servo grabbing the black one. “Do it, we do have ways of getting to Praxus in little time at all. The idiot makes you and Skids happy, and that is all I care about. One cycle I’ll be able to see him as my Sire, but I have too many important things to think about at this point in time.”

After several good cycles of visiting, Skids offered to escort Jazz back to Iacon. When they arrived to the house, they were both greeted with Ironhide chatting with Prowl outside. Both sides stopped all movement as they looked in an awkward silence. Skids’ wings fluttered with a subconscious happiness at seeing his other creator, but he hid slightly behind Jazz. “I should go.”

Jazz didn’t try to fight it as he turned to hug his son. He knew one of these days he was going to have all four of them sit down and have an actual conversation. The Polyhexian couldn’t move four more cities away from his creations when there was still tension between their creator and them. He didn’t care if he had to drag Prowl by the wing or lock him out of his house, he wanted them to come to some sort of conclusion.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still alive!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, let me know what you think :)


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